IIT goes the Laloo way

[quote:619a2b3de7]The Times of India Online
IIT goes Lalu way
JHIMLI MUKHERJEE PANDEY

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, JULY 06, 2004 09:38:48 PM ]

KOLKATA: No one is sipping tea out of plastic cups at IIT-Kharagpur these days. The institute has put a ban on the use of plastic cups within the campus.

A notice to this effect has been sent to department heads, canteens, food stalls and kiosks, hostel superintendents and markets, from the director's office.

Instead, everyone can be seen having tea or coffee from khulhars or bhars (earthen pots that one associates with roadside tea-stalls).

The notice clearly says that these khulhars are to be used to serve beverages even at high-level seminars and conferences. "Since the notice was served a fortnight ago, in all our meetings and seminars tea and coffee are being served in earthen pots. In some of the seminars we even had invited guests - scholars from abroad - who were not only surprised but highly appreciative of the move," IIT-Kgp's dean of academic affairs R V Rajakumar told TNN.

"IIT-Kgp is the only one in the IIT chain to have started this. I hope others will follow our example," Rajakumar added.

The message that went along with the notice from the director said that the switch over from plastic cups to earthen pots would help generate income for hundreds of families in and around Kharagpur. Moreover, the institute should start doing its bit towards the cause of environment, the message said, and earthen pots - being biodegradable - would help the cause.

The institute is procuring khulhars by the thousands every morning. "There are 5500 students on the campus alone. Plus, there are 450 teachers and their families, not to speak of the hundreds of office staff who also live on the campus. So you can imagine the number of khulhars that are used inside the campus everyday," Rajakumar said.

Khulhars are expected to be a rage on the campus on two occasions that are coming up soon - the 54th Foundation Day celebrations in August and the golden jubilee convocation in September - which will see at least an extra 1500 invitees on the campus for two consecutive days. The institute has decided to place special orders at that time to cope with the heavy demand.

The news of the switchover has already got the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta talking and, before long, a similar step may be taken there as well. IIM-C dean of planning and administration Asish Bhattacharya said: "There is no point talking about saving the environment unless campuses like us take such steps. Just like IIT-Kgp, IIM-C, too, has thousands of families that earn their livelihood by making and selling such khulhars and procuring these will not be a problem."[/quote:619a2b3de7]
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/767675.cms