MP college bans students, exempts teachers from driving cars, bikes on campus

The ban applies from this academic session, but members of the faculty are exempted.

The Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in the Madhya Pradesh capital has banned students from driving bikes and cars on its 650-acre campus, a move aimed at stopping growing incidents of road accidents.

An official said at least two dozen Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) students are injured every year in road accidents on the campus and outside. (HT file)

The ban applies from this academic session, but members of the faculty are exempted.

Students seeking admission will have to submit an affidavit on a non-judiciary stamp paper of Rs 100, declaring they will not use any motor vehicle during their stint at the institute.

The step was taken to achieve two things — give the campus a clean-green environment and save lives too. The institute’s administration is worried over the growing number of accidents in which students are involved.

Several students have died in such accidents as motorists apparently tend to speed on the congestion-free, smooth roads inside the campus.

An official said at least two dozen MANIT students are injured every year in road accidents on the campus and outside.

The administration has been issuing notices banning entry of vehicles of students into the campus for the past two years. In fact, MANIT director NS Chaudhari issued an order in April to convert the campus into a vehicle-free zone.

But nobody paid heed to the warnings, prompting MANIT chairman Geetha Bali to issue a blanket ban. The proctor committee followed it up with the rule that students will submit an undertaking accepting the no-vehicle norm.

Hostel wards will have to send their vehicles home, if they have any at present.

“They cannot keep vehicles during their hostel stay,” said Yogendra Kumar, the student welfare dean. Also, he had written to parents requesting them to stop their wards from bringing motorcycles, scooters and cars to the campus.

This means students staying outside the campus will have to travel till the main gates on public transport or cars and walk or bicycle to move about inside the premises.