IIT-B alumni fund students' wishes

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) can now make their wish list to improve facilities in their hostels, as The Make Hostel My Home initiative will see the institute’s alumni fund sprucing up of the 15 hostels on campus. Kiran Wadhwa reports.

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) can now make their wish list to improve facilities in their hostels. The Make Hostel My Home initiative will see the institute’s alumni grant students their wishes to spruce up the 15 hostels on campus.

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While Rs 15 lakh has already been spent on fulfilling some wishes, a longer list awaits.

Hostel 7 has got bookcases, Hostel 4 a gymnasium and Hostel 2 now has a home theatre system. There are Rs2 5 lakh worth laundromats that Hostel 6 and 8 will soon get and Hostel 11 wants a library.

"The wish list can be endless, but the alumni committee also checks the requirements of the hostel," said Bakul Desai, a director of the IIT-B Alumni Association. For instance, when Hostel 4 asked for a treadmill in the gym, the wish was rejected. The 550-acre campus in itself is a large treadmill, said alumni.

The initiative has been divided into three parts - everyday chores such as cleanliness, which the students can take care of themselves, maintenance works such as leaking pipes that the institute needs to manage and the wish list.

The increased student intake has led to a shortage of space on campus. At present, two persons share a room meant for a single occupant.