The President’s manifesto consisted of 13 ideas, some of which aimed at improving existing systems on campus and others which were completely novel initiatives. At the end of the first semester of 2018-19, 1 has been fulfilled, 7 of these are still in progress and 5 of these have not been fulfilled. Click here to view the manifesto on the Election Commission page.

Manifesto Point	Status
Improving Mental Health	In Progress
Sanitary Pad Dispensers	Fulfilled
Students’ Emergency Fund	Not Fulfilled
SU Tech Team	In Progress
Parking Space for Higher Degree Students	Not Fulfilled
Accommodation and PS Resources	Not Fulfilled
Freelancers Cell	In Progress
Alumni Connect	In Progress
Health	In Progress
Build to Sell	Not Fulfilled
Skill Development	In Progress
Codifying DisCo rules	In Progress
Aman ki Baat	Not Fulfilled

Improving Mental Health: In Progress

With only two psychiatrists visiting the campus twice a week, the SUC recognises that it is not sufficient. The President aims to have a panel consisting of students and faculty and has contacts of agencies who deal with mental health issues and can teach faculty on how to handle such cases. An app, which he said is currently in its beta phase, is being built as a messenger platform. In this, students can anonymously share their issues, and then receive help from the panel who has been trained by the agency on how to deal with mental issues at a basic level.

However, in October the ACC (Academic Counselling Cell) was formed. The unit, headed by Prof. Kanan Ramaswamy, aims at helping and guiding students in all matters related to their academics, including a separate division for helping students with mental issues that arise with academic stress. In light of this development, the SUC had decided to plan their action based on the response the ACC received. They have decided to go ahead with their original plan. With consultation with the Humanities Department, he assures us that the panel would be functional by the next semester.

Sanitary Pad Dispensers: Fulfilled

While it took a lot of time to convince the administration, sanitary pad dispensers were implemented in this year’s budget. Dispensers have been installed in the girl’s washroom in the library and LTC. The manifesto only mentioned dispensers but sanitary pad incinerators will also be installed soon in the girls’ hostels. There are currently five incinerators which have been purchased for the girls’ hostels, and are yet to be installed. The number of dispensers and incinerators will be increased later, depending on the response.

Students’ Emergency Fund: Not Fulfilled

The idea behind the Student Emergency Fund, was to be able to loan students money efficiently during an emergency. A certain amount of money would be taken out on a reserve basis from the Student Union Fund, so that it would be easily accessible on short notice. Students would be able to get the money, by conveying their situation to their respective H-reps who would then speak to the President, who would lend the concerned student the money for a period of two weeks. The primary purpose of this fund, was to provide an alternative to the Student Aid Fund, which involves a lengthy and time consuming process in order to receive the money, for emergency situations. The President is currently in talks with the administration, in order to implement this initiative but progress has been slow.

SU Tech Team: In Progress

The SU Tech Team currently is primarily focussed on working on the 212 bus tracker and SAC monitoring system. However the SU website, while existent, is outdated and not functional. With a significant number of points from the President’s manifesto depending on the SU Portal, the SUC is hopeful to have a functional website by the start of the next semester.

Parking Space for Higher Degree Students: Not Fulfilled

While there is parking space for PhD students, higher degree students still do not have parking space. At the time, the lot where I block currently stands, was intended to be used as a parking lot for higher degree students . However with the expansion work over the summer and this semester, the SUC is still uncertain about the allotment of parking space for higher degree students.

Accommodation and PS Resources: Not Fulfilled

The President’s manifesto aimed at negotiating with YHAI (Youth Hostels Association of India) for accommodation for students in PS, however YHAI is uninterested in collaborating with private institutions. Currently the SUC plans to collect data when the fourth year students return from their PS about where their stations were and their accommodation and begin negotiations so that when the PS list is released, the people who are going for PS in the second semester can benefit from the initiative.

Freelancers Cell: In Progress

With a large number of students on campus interested in freelancing opportunities, especially in the fields of design and photography, the President planned to bring freelancing opportunities to interested students through the freelancers cell. The SUC has been talks with companies who are interested in extending their freelancing opportunities to college students such as a freelance design firm as well as Telangana Tourism. However without a functional SU Portal, due to a lack of formal structure, the idea cannot be properly implemented.

Alumni Connect: In Progress

The idea behind Alumni Connect was to have a platform where alumni of the campus could fund projects or provide mentoring for students. Due to the absence of a functional SU Portal, the idea has not been implemented yet. The idea behind this portal, according to the manifesto, was to enable crowdfunding of projects on campus through voluntary contributions from alumni. The General Secretary’s manifesto, too, has a similar idea which appears to be in progress.

However, outside of the SUC, initiatives have begun to reach out to alumni, such as the Student Alumni Relations Cell. Headed by Prof. V. Meenakshi this aims to keep in touch with alumni through frequent articles and interactive events, including a reunion for the 2008 and 2009 batch which has been planned for the 12th of January, 2019. This in contrast to this idea of Alumni Connect, whose primary objective appears to be technical assistance and monetary funding.

Health: In Progress

This year, the SUC conducted one blood donation drive, along with NSS during ATMOS and plans to conduct more such drives. Talks with hospitals, about having a greater number of specialists visit campus as well as having student discounts for BITSians are still in progress, and the SUC plans to make headway with this initiative over the winter break. As of now BITSians can still avail a discount at Yashoda Hospital, an agreement which has been in place, prior to the tenure of the current SUC.

Build to Sell: Not Fulfilled

The SUC intended to build a program which would students to solve real life problems faced by different organizations where SUC would work to get internship opportunities with companies which sponsor the fests in the campus and wish to associate with the campus. However without a functional SU Portal, no progress has been made on this front.

Skill Development: In Progress

The SUC aims to encourage students to explore different fields of interest through the Skill Development Program. With the idea of training of Civil Services and soft skills for interview training, the plan included conducting talks, workshops and sessions with people experienced in such fields. This semester, the SUC was unable to fulfill this particular initiative. However, the SUC has already started to make plans to implement this initiative in full swing by the next semester.

Codifying DisCo rules: In Progress

While DisCo hearings already have a set of rules and guidelines that are to be followed, the SUC with help from the Disciplinary Commitee Student Representatives (Arjun Lokireddy & Archana Swaminathan) have suggested changes in the procedure. One such change being planned by the President is the inclusion of community service in the punishment, such as working a stipulated number of hours in the library. Another proposition is to have counselling for repeated offenders, in order to reduce the number of disciplinary cases in the campus, as a whole.

Aman ki Baat: Not Fulfilled.

In order to keep in touch with General Body, the President had proposed a monthly newsletter that would provide a summary of the happenings on campus for the month, as well as include a proposal for the initiatives of the next month. He had also planned on conducting common room meetings, in order to provide a more accessible platform for the General Body to air their concerns and queries. The President assures us that there would be regular common room meetings following the 14th of January, 2019. Next semester, the SUC plans to release such a newsletter, once a month as well as conduct regular podcasts, subject to the functionality of the LAN radio.

Outside The Manifesto

Apart from his manifesto, the President has put significant effort in other endeavours apart from fests. His noteworthy achievements this semester include :

1. Vending Machines: One of the major accomplishments of SUC in this semester was the installation of vending machines. Implemented as a solution for unavailability of food post intime, there are currently 5 machines in the different hostels, on a trial basis. The President assures us that this initiative will be expanded to all hostels by the second semester.
2. Solar Panels: This semester also saw the installation of solar panels in all hostels which essentially solved the problem of lack of hot water in the hostels.
3. RO Water: The initiative which was started by the previous SUC, was taken up by the current SUC and RO water filters were installed this semester.

In addition to this, the SUC, under the President, has also introduced Swiggy’s services on campus, which has helped make a larger variety of food easily accessible to the students. They also convinced the administration to cover the pits near the football field to prevent any mishaps. As of now, the pits are covered with grills and they have planned to have them fully covered before Arena 2019.

Article by Ananya Mohapatra and Saandra Nandakumar. Edited by Shanmukh Kali Prasad and Poornima Venkatapuram.