In-time
for students (no student can remain outside his hostel gate after 11 P.M.) in hostels has been the most discussed and debated issue of ISM.
For the last few years, it continues to be in the 'issues raised' section in
various meetings of ISS, but so far ISM administration has paid no heed to this
demand. Most students (in fact every
student) want this rule to be scrapped.
The
reason given by the admins in support of this rule is hilarious. Argument is
given that this rule is only for the safety of students because any mishap can
happen during the night. This argument is as strong as saying that "To
avoid molestation,
women should stay at home". Doesn't the administration know that most of
the students here are adults? Students here possess the same security threat as
any other person of our country. What if the government imposes this kind of
ban on every person to stay inside their house to reduce the crimes? Will
anyone accept this? In a free and democratic society where every person has the
right to do anything as long as it is not obnoxious to other citizens, where
the government is about to decriminalize attempt to suicide, imposing these
kind of bans in the name of maintaining discipline and ensuring safety is
egregious.
There are other ways to ensure safety of students during the night. There are already enough guards in the campus, but still numbers of guards can be increased for added security. And instead of banning students why not ban outsiders after 11 pm since they are the potential offender to the students, students should be told to carry I-cards to distinguish them from strangers. Regular and strict checking of I-cards should be done and outsiders can be punished with a fine or something else. Even after having so many guards, if safety of students cannot be ensured within the small premises of ISM which is confined by boundary walls where no palpable evidences of ‘criminal-on-prowl' are available, just imagine the plight of the common man living in open societies where no significant police or security is available.
All the possible problems can be sorted out, but the ISM administration is too defensive to take any step to abolish this rule. For the administration, it also serves as an excuse to prevent students from getting involved in ‘bad habits' like studying till late night in the library. In reality, admins are using this rule to hide the insufficiency of available night-staff. Now that we are bragging about the new library which would be Asia’s largest academic library, it would be unfortunate if this rule is continued; people would laugh at us. The ISM administration should consider the demands of students and completely erase this rule.
