RGU prepares post-lockdown plan

RONO HILLS, Apr 8: Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) here has prepared a post-lockdown action plan, focusing on 10 priority areas, and submitted it to the central government.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof Saket Kushwaha, said the plan was prepared with inputs from all the stakeholders of the university.
The university has decided that its ‘task force monitoring committee’ will continue functioning as per the guidelines of the union ministry of human resource development (MHRD), the UGC, and the state government.
“Efforts are being made to reach out to the students with hard reading materials/aid stuff who do not have access to digital/or computer,” a release from the university quoting Prof Kushwaha said.
While students who have internet connectivity will be provided with e-content reading materials, all students have been advised to attend the multimedia classes offered by the MHRD and the UGC on TV.
The VC said “there will be reduction in the duration of summer vacation” and the university will carry out sanitization of the hostels, the departments, the offices, roads, etc, from time to time.
In the event that the lockdown continues beyond 14 April, the university will strictly abide by the latest protocol/guidelines issued by the central or the state government and online teaching will continue, the release said.
“As and when employees (teaching and non-teaching) return from outside the state and report in the campus for duty after lockdown, they must follow quarantine protocol for 14 days,” it said.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof Amitava Mitra, said RGU will conduct the meetings of all its statutory bodies at the earliest, and the university will also hold “the meetings of the interviews of all the teaching posts, statutory posts and non-teaching posts at the earliest.”
He said the preparation for the National Assessment & Accreditation Council’s peer team will also continue on priority.
Controller of Examination (in-charge), Dr Nani Tamang Jose, informed that all the exams of UG and PG departments will commence on 30 May, and said the university will follow “seven working days for teaching and administration.”
He said modalities for conducting exams online will be developed, if need be.
Joint Registrar, Dr David Pertin, informed that “the arrival of students and reporting in the hostels and departments will be on a phase-wise manner.”
The final semester students of six UG departments (physical education, geology, BPED, BEd, BCA, and music & fine arts), and the final semester students of eight “practical-based” departments, including MPhil final semester students (physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, geography, CSE, ECE, and mass communication) are to come to the university on 15 April.
“All final semester students of the rest of the departments are to arrive and report in the hostels and departments on 21 April. All second and fourth semester students of all the departments are to arrive and report in the hostels and departments on 27 April,” Dr Pertin said.
He said the date of submission of MPhil dissertations will be extended for two weeks after the lockdown is lifted.
“The classes of above six UG final semester students shall commence on 17 April, with all necessary precautions,” he said, adding that all the courses (UG and PG) must be covered within four weeks, latest by 17 May, from the day of commencement of classes.
“Classes will start at 9 am and continue till 4:30 pm every day when the university reopens after the lockdown,” Dr Pertin said.