IIT-M students allege harassment by vigilance officers, Dean denies charges

The hostel residents, both men and women, alleged that officers barge into rooms, insult and click pictures without consent and their behaviour violates the students’ right to privacy and dignity. 

Dean of students, MS Sivakumar, said they had received complaints from students and the vigilance officers have been apprised of the issues and told not to click photographs.

He said the charges do not reveal the whole picture, adding checks are conducted by ex-servicemen trained to deal with such issues.

“Vigilance officers are the ones tasked to enforce hostel rules and check for violations. We don’t know if we can call it harassment or enforcement,” he said.

A woman research scholar, who did not wish to be named, alleged that vigilance officials barge into rooms, pull things out and call them names for their personal choices. A male post-graduate student, who resides in one of the 20 hostels, alleged that fines imposed for violation of rules were “arbitrary” and ranged from Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000. “Students have no idea about the slabs and it has not been put up anywhere on the campus,” he said.

A woman PhD scholar alleged that vigilance teams take note of girl students visiting boys in their hostels and conduct checks even if they go there during permitted hours.

However, Sivakumar said vigilance officers do not conduct checks in every room, but only random checks. “If a girl is found in a boy’s room, the officers just check if she is an IIT-M student.

Besides, guidelines on fines applicable for violations are available with wardens,” he said.

Sivakumar said students in IIT-Madras range from 17-yea olds to research scholars aged around 35. Perhaps the present rules seem unreasonable to those in the older age bracket, he said.

“It is tough to have one rule for undergraduates and another for PhD scholars unless hostels are different,” he said.