The Student Council (2017-2018)
The Student Council is one of the most important student-run bodies on campus. Members of the Student Council serve as the bridge between the students and the administration. Not only do they ensure that the grievances of the student population reaches the ears of the authorities, but also act as the students’ representatives in the process of making important decisions.
President
Name: Althaf Ibrahim Para
Department: Electronics and Communication Engineering
E-mail: althafibrahim1998@gmail.com
Serving as the Vice President in the previous council, I got an opportunity to observe the working of the Council and the President very closely. My priority is to take up the issues that the previous Council couldn’t see through to the end. The implementation of the new Assignment Pattern for instance, was not appreciated by the students. The previous council was unable to bring a change in the middle of the semester as it wasn’t feasible. Hence, it is on us to convey it to the administration to make appropriate changes.
To ensure that our decisions do not go against the requirements of the students, I have thought of taking online feedback related for any major decision taken. This would enable us to make appropriate changes to the current system, so as to ensure that there are no hurdles in the functioning of the Council.
Another proposal involves restarting the SMP (Student Mentorship Programme), which would involve seniors being allotted to freshers to spread awareness about the issues plaguing the campus and the student community.
General Secretary (Female)
Name: Shimona Roy Chowdhury
Department: Electronics and Communication Engineering
E-mail: siryco0131@gmail.com
From being involved in Hostels and Mess related decisions to making sure necessary amendments are made, Mayank and I, as General Secretaries, are responsible to make sure that the Student Council is progressing, making a constructive change, and is positively influencing the lives of students. Having served as the Joint Secretary in my second year, I am well-versed with the objectives, obstacles, and functions of the Student Council.
My primary goal is to make sure that the Student Council becomes the point of contact, even for the most trivial This can only be achieved if we make sure we address the students and their issues, put forth their problems to the authorities, and making sure they get solved as soon as possible. We interpret our role as being the next point of contact after the President and strive to maintain transparency. The platform for complaints needs to be made more efficient and systematic, with the addition of a public platform. Steps must be taken to solve academic issues faster. We will introduce new systems to increase students’ conveniences and make their life easier.
General Secretary (Male)
Name: Mayank Agarwal
Department: Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
E-mail: mayankagarwal0411@gmail.com
The General Secretaries mainly responsible for all the actions the Council takes, right from compiling the ‘Plans of Action’ for the council members to maintaining time during meetings with authorities. We also have the responsibility of helping and guiding the president whenever needed. General Secretaries are not limited to the fests, but have work to do throughout the year. Having previously been a member of the Student Council as the Joint Secretary, I am well aware of the various roles and responsibilities this post brings.
As the General Secretary, it is my responsibility to set up a general plan of action for the Council. My primary duty is to make sure a majority of the ‘Points of Action’ discussed are implemented within our tenure. As always, I also stress on complete transparency in all decisions, by trying to ensure that all major decisions are taken with the help of various student polls. Lastly, I would like to make some changes to the mess system. Work is also underway for a proper platform through which complaints will be reported to the Student Council or the authorities.
Construction of new buildings always brings some logistical issues, but just like my predecessors, I intend to adequately adapt to the situation to make sure the transition and other problems are correctly handled.
Treasurer
Name: Alolika Chakravarty
Department: Information Technology
E-mail: alolika.55@gmail.com
My post as the Treasurer of the Student Council comes along with a lot of responsibility. It’ll be my job to keep track of each and every penny that is being spent by the clubs, as well as managing the finance aspect of the fests—Revels and TechTatva. Working with the administration to resolve the problems that students face was my main motive behind joining the Student Council. During my tenure as the Joint Technical Secretary, I came up with a few ideas to make all the financial processes simple and streamlined. Having been elected to the post of Treasurer now, I have the perfect platform to start implementing those ideas
I aim to shift a few financial processes online by introducing the online purchase of delegate cards, online ticket booking, and reimbursement for outstation fests. It is essential to introduce a fixed budget for the Student Council so I have started by working on that. Documentation of rules and expenses will provide a proper structure that the next treasurer can refer to, and it will leave no scope for any confusion. It is a necessity for the systematic functioning of the Council, and it could help bridge the gap in communication between MAHE and MIT by providing a detailed record of the finances.
Vice-President (Female)
Name: Pragya Misra
Department: Electrical and Electronics Engineering
E-mail: pragya.misra7@gmail.com
My role, as a class representative, has taught me to take initiative. Should an individual choose to approach and question me, we can find solutions to anything. I tend to have an added sense of purpose when I know that my concerted efforts will help out my peers. I already had a few ideas on matters that needed addressing in our college, and when the opportunity presented itself, I felt this was the way to go.
When it comes to long-term goals, I wish to work on student counselling—making it more approachable, promoting its usefulness, and addressing issues surrounding drug abuse and depression. This is going to be my priority and something I truly want to work on. Other projects include the Student Adalat and a mentorship program for juniors to help them navigate college life. As for the mess food, there are several contributing factors that we were made aware of by the Director, and hence, this issue needs careful deliberation before anything is finalised. When it came to implementation and also working on the issues or facilitating the issues mentioned in feedback forms, the Council faced a lot of problems last year due to tight schedules and short semesters. My aim is to make ways of promoting and making the Council more approachable while working on delicate issues such as drug abuse or depression.
Having taken a lot of time understanding issues in and around myself, I have come up with a list of things I wish to take up when or if given the position, a few of which had procedural ambiguity which I have enquired with the administrative office and eventually compiled my plan of action.
Vice-President (Male)
Name: Archit Agrawal
Department: Mechanical Engineering
E-mail: archit.ag12@gmail.com
As a person, I was never afraid of taking initiatives in my life. After realising the fact—that aspiration to see the growth of my college and evaluating the big doors of possibilities, I felt extremely inspired to put my strong foot forward and make things happen. Things that I’ve been visualising right from day one when I entered the college gate.
There is no limitation to what can be achieved, being in the position is not about being better than any individual, but about gaining the trust of the student body to represent them with honesty and enthusiasm, whenever called upon. At the moment my aim is to take as many right decisions as possible. I intend to make this campus a conducive centre of learning. One of the agenda is a provision of a pharmacy within the campus which is near its completion. I will also make sure that the renovation of the older hostel blocks goes as per the student requirements. Adding to it, as a goal, I want to contribute to the animals living on the campus and try to form organizations to create an awareness regarding compassionate coexistence between humans and the animals.
Vice-President (Post-Graduate)
Name: Manasa AV
Department: Information and Control Technology
E-mail: manasagowda50@gmail.com
I was always interested in joining the Student Council because I had a few ideas which I had wanted to implement. Also, when I heard that there were no improvements in the condition of the Post-Graduate students, I wanted them to be more enthusiastic and participating in all the activities.
Earlier, meetings with the higher authorities could not be executed properly and hence, students weren’t able to express their needs. I would like to change that and make sure that the committee meetings are effective.
Apart from improving the class committee meetings for Revels’ 18, in the long run, I want to make sure all the students are aware of the research facilities in MIT and ensure that every Post-Graduate student submits at least one research paper.
Joint Secretary (Female)
Name: Mohini Rajamani
Department: Electrical and Electronics Engineering
E-mail: mohini.rajamani@gmail.com
The Joint Secretaries, along with the Vice Presidents, are responsible for all the domains other than the two fests and sports activities. Hostels, Mess, Academics, social media platforms, and infrastructure, all come under the General Council’s belt. We also cater to the multiple queries and grievances of students.
My predecessors were extremely efficient and dedicated but had to face a few shortcomings. Unforeseen circumstances led to delays in proposed plans and many students faced problems due to unclear instructions. We noticed that a lot of students took to social media platforms to complain, and we want to address this to ensure that even those who are unwilling to make public posts are catered to properly. We are working to learn from those mistakes and rectify the problems that they had faced.
My short-term goals are to maintain the efficient flow of work of the Council and provide real-time solutions to problems put forth by the student populace. We want to improve the general quality of college life by taking into account suggestions put forth by the students and implementing small budget projects. Long-term goals include initiation of projects regarding hostels, mess and academics, and to take them forward onto the path of improvement.
Joint Secretary (Male)
Name: Rohith Reddy
Department: Computer and Communication Engineering
E-mail: rohithreddy2659@live.com
Being elected as the Joint Secretary, it is required of me to assist the General Secretaries in all their duties. I must deal with presiding over the mess committee meetings, handling the multiple issues faced by students regarding hostels, and step in for the General Sec whenever required.
The primary drawbacks in the past few years mainly arose due to lack of efficient implementation. For example, in the previous academic year, we had good ideas for the establishment of a Student Adaalat, but it lacked proper implementation. I aim to focus on carrying out the reforms undertaken by the Student Council.
My short term goals currently involve implementation of mess facilities, with the inclusion of takeaway breakfasts. We are also aiming towards building a proper platform where students can approach us with their grievances directly rather than posting on open groups.
Cultural Secretary (Female)
Name: Sowmya Yalla
Department: Electronics and Communication Engineering
E-mail: sowmyayalla@hotmail.com
Being the cultural secretary, I’ll need to look into all the matters that involve cultural activities. Our first priority is looking after the cultural clubs. At the end of each semester, we take semester reports from each of the twenty-nine cultural/non-technical clubs.
Our next major assignment will be organising Revels’18, MIT’s cultural fest. Along with Parth Gupta, I shall be responsible for the cultural facet of Revels as a Convener, while Paridhi Sirohi and Sushrut Devasthali shall be taking charge of the Sporting activities as the other two Conveners. We also have the Manipal Literary fest—Milaap. It happens in the odd semester and being a literal fest, it again comes under our jurisdiction.
Besides in-house cultural activities, we ensure that the college has a healthy participation in outstation fests, namely, BITS Goa: Waves, IIT Bombay: Mood Indigo, IIM Bangalore: Unmaad, and VIT Vellore: Rivera.
Cultural Secretary (Male)
Name: Parth Gupta
Department: Electronics and Communication Engineering
E-mail: parth97.gupta@gmail.com
As the Cultural Secretary of the council, I aim to deliver on the following fronts:
1) Revels’18 should go on in a smooth manner. We wish to integrate the organisations dedicated towards social causes.
2) MIT’s participation in Utsav—Aiming for the first position.
3) There should be no clashes among the cultural clubs inside the campus. I am expected to streamline the functioning of the said clubs, bringing a synergy to encourage the cultural activities in the campus.
4) Increasing the number of outgoing participants to various competitions to represent MIT.
5) Setting up Campus Ambassadors for various colleges to help publicise our events/fest and increasing the outstation participants.
Apart from this, I personally have been working on a thing which I call the ‘Saturday Project’. This project aims at assigning a Saturday to each registered club within the campus to put up their own exhibition according to their own discretion, which would increase the number of cultural activities in an academic year.
The aspirations that I have naturally come with a set of challenges that I, along with the entirety of the Council need to overcome. The major issues that we have on our plate right now are the following:
1) Revels has always been a loss-making fest, unlike TechTatva.
2) The social media reach of the fests is limited to Manipal.
3) MIT has never secured the first position in Utsav.
4) Movie promotions inside the campus (if possible).
5) Trying to integrate with UNESCO and Swacch Bharat Abhiyan for better visibility and awareness.
I am excited to take up the responsibility and the challenges that accompany my position. I hope the projects that we take up reach fruition during our tenure.
Joint Cultural Secretary (Female)
Name: Riti Sharma
Department: Mechanical Engineering
E-mail: sharma.riti99@gmail.com
I always believed that a few years down the line, the memories made while participating in extracurricular activities, be it technical or cultural, are more persistent than the lessons learnt inside classrooms.
As the Joint Cultural Secretary, my main focus will be to increase participation in cultural activities, be it clubs, or in the college fests. I believe that every student must be given the choice to choose and excel in their own fields of interest. I also intend on helping new clubs get more traction, to reach out and grow.
Our main aim this year is to try and increase the involvement of students in Revels—not only within but from all over the country. We shall try to make Utsav a bigger fest for MIT and bring home the trophy, help the cultural clubs grow, and increase outgoing participation.
Joint Cultural Secretary (Male)
Name: Anirudh Kamath
Department: Computer and Communication Engineering
E-mail: anirudhkamath@hotmail.com
During my first year, I realized that not everyone in college is aware of the various cultural events that take place around Manipal. The ones, who had a slight idea, felt that attending them was a waste of time. The notion that non-technical skills don’t matter as much as your technical skills is something I intend to eradicate. I wish to spread the idea of a holistic sense of learning, where there’s more college life than lessons learnt from classes. My role, as the Joint Cultural Secretary, involves ensuring that the cultural aspect of the college improves massively, increasing awareness on the various opportunities available, and eventually putting the name of MIT in the limelight in competitions around the country.
Sports Secretary (Female)
Name: Paridhi Sirohi
Department: Computer and Communication Engineering
E-mail: paridhisirohi@gmail.com
I have always been a sports enthusiast and was appalled at the participation in our college. To remedy it, I decided to join the ranks of the Student Council. My position entails everything related to sports and its facilities in the college. Our main hurdle is the lack of communication, mismanagement, and inferior equipment. To improve communication, I plan on dealing with the team members individually and not just with the captains. Outstation participation will be our focus this year, with teams representing the college at least once every semester. Hopefully, with effort, sports will not just be a luxury, but an integral part of everyday life.
Sports Secretary (Male)
Name: Sushrut Devasthali
Department: Mechanical Engineering
E-mail: sushdev1701@gmail.com
Sports has been my first love for as long as I can remember. Being the sports secretary seemed like a natural extension of my abilities. Manipal sports teams often fail to deliver—mainly due to lack of real-time experience. Increasing their outstation participation will be our primary goal this year. On the other hand, this will also lead to an increasing number of visiting teams playing during Revels. I hope the changes we intend will be quick and flawless.
Joint Sports Secretary (Female)
Name: Deepika Giridhar
Department: Electrical and Electronics Engineering
E-mail: deepikagiridhar1998@gmail.com
In my first year of college, I got really fascinated by the way that fests are conducted in college. So I wanted to be a part of the group that organises them. I aim to increase participation in various sports, especially for women, and throw some light upon lesser recognised sports—like chess, which isn’t as celebrated as cricket is. As the Joint Sports Secretary, I aim to make the Revels Cup more successful and promote all kinds of sports. Last year, we faced problems regarding budget issues for prizes and logistics. Thus, this year, we are trying to get more sponsors and planning the events well in advance, so as not to repeat the same mistakes. Our seniors have done their best and given us great fests last year, all I want to do is live up to the expectations and try my best to do the same.
Joint Sports Secretary (Male)
Name: Sahil Bava Teekay
Department: Industrial Production
E-mail: sahil.bava.teekay@gmail.com
I was a part of the basketball team in the first year, so I used to go for many outstation tournaments and had even participated in revels. I used to make note of everything that people were doing right and wrong and tried to give solutions to these problems. That’s how I got here. My position right now mainly requires me to organise Revels sports, which generally involves overseeing the sporting activities in MIT and looking into the grievances of the various teams
My long-term plan would be to try and get the best of what we have, get all the courts in shape, the football fields in a better condition, get more people involved in sports. I want to make the sports club more organised, and incorporate publicity and sponsorship teams for the sports bodies too—perhaps start on a smaller scale. As for Revels, this year, we plan to make arrangements for grounds and courts well in advance and send out invitations to other colleges earlier to increase outstation participation.
Technical Secretary (Female)
Name: Harshini N
Department: Computer and Communication Engineering
E-mail: radhaharshini@gmail.com
Sharpening the technical skills of a student is of utmost importance in any engineering college. My role, as a Technical Secretary, entails coordinating the activities of all the technical clubs, the student projects, and the successful execution of TechTatva. A part of my job, as technical secretary, is also to generate a favourable response towards technical activities among the students to make the learning process more enjoyable. I also serve as a medium of communication between the students and administration by voicing their concerns.
To avoid clashes between clubs and last minute changes during TechTatva that prove quite troublesome, we plan to organise calendar events and the fest events well in advance. We also plan to incorporate the feedback taken from participants, core committee members, faculty and administration while planning for future fests. The formation of new clubs that use technical skills to further a social cause is also something I want to implement.
I also want to look into the creation of a portal for the technical clubs and student projects. It would contain information regarding the work of the clubs, past events, and upcoming events so that students have a single go-to page for all the details they need. A newsletter or a social media page regarding various advances currently being made in technology would also be a beneficial addition.
Technical Secretary (Male)
Name: Shubham Garg
Deparment: Electronics and Communication Engineering
E-mail: gargshubham@gmail.com
As the Technical Secretary, one of my responsibilities is to organize TechTatva to the best of my abilities. I will also promote new technical clubs and student projects while also ensuring the smooth working of the existing clubs. It is also essential to provide students with the opportunity to attend workshops and conferences in collaboration with the top colleges and companies of the country. As a contingent leader, my role is also to make students aware of fests in other colleges and guide them through the participation process.
I am trying to secure UNESCO patronage for TechTatva, which will give our fest international recognition. The publicity of ‘featured events’ also needs to begin well in advance. I also plan to shift the entire working timeline up by a month so that unforeseen delays are avoided. We also want to keep the fest from becoming monotonous for the seniors, so we plan to create new events and categories. We also want to introduce events similar to the BATCAM and the vintage car event which proved to be crowd-pleasers.
I want to increase the number of student projects collaborating with other constituent colleges of Manipal. More clubs like Lakshaya can be created which are working with the government to bring about a change in the lives of the underprivileged. I also feel the financial aspects of the clubs can be made more transparent.
Workshops conducted by other colleges and industries will also be something students can look forward to. We are working towards organising a workshop and a competition which will be conducted by IIT Kharagpur in our college. I also plan to send a contingent to BITS Goa’s technical fest, Quark. I am in touch with Elins Technology, a firm which plans to conduct a workshop on IOT in the next semester. I also want to make students aware of the technical resources like journals and papers—which are being provided by the college but are, unfortunately, underutilised.
Joint Technical Secretary (Female)
Name: Soamya Singh
Department: Aeronautical Engineering
E-mail: soamyasingh280298@gmail.com
Even in school, I had always been interested to represent my class to put forth the matters and issues in front of the faculty. Helping others has always been my motive. Some people think of it as a task or a job, but I assume it to be my responsibility to help a friend.
My position as a Joint Technical Secretary will help me get an insight into the activities of the various technical clubs, student projects, and the events they will be hosting or participating in.
I shall try to encourage maximum participation of students from our institute in cross country technical events by increasing our connections with other institutions. My long-term goal is to have a qualitative functioning of clubs and projects rather than a quantitative one.
My short-term goal, as of now, is the close monitoring of the various clubs and student projects, keeping a check on their functioning, and in case of a non-functional club or project, finding the reasons for its dormant state and helping it to function properly once again.
Joint Technical Secretary (Male)
Name: Vyshva Manas K
Department: Computer Science Engineering
E-mail: vyshvamanask@live.com
Being in the Student Council gives me an insight into the way things are done, the backstage work for the fests and the handling of student activities as a whole. Secondly, not everything is perfect in the college. Being a member of the council, I think I could help in resolving a few issues.
We will be working on making Revels a great experience for all the participants. Along with that, we are even working on various technical workshops for the next semester. In the long run, we are trying to get the best workshops—in general, and for TechTatva.
As the Joint Technical Secretary, I think the biggest problem will have to be the falling participation in TechTatva. So this time around, we are planning to change a lot of things, including the way workshops and the Conclave is held so that we get maximum participation
Placement Secretary
Name: Anmol Chordia
Department: Mechanical Engineering
E-mail: anmol.chordia@hotmail.com
My responsibilities would mainly include coordinating the activities of the Placement Department with the companies that come for recruitment and to bridge the gap between the students and the Placement Department by ensuring that the students are well informed about the placement procedure.
I feel it is extremely important to induct juniors into the process since it is essential for them to understand how placements system works. In order to accomplish this, we inform the class representatives whenever there is a requirement for volunteers.
Bringing in changes was a challenging job for our predecessors. At times, it was very difficult for their ideas to get approved because the faculty and liaisons are far more in touch with HRs and recruiters. I haven’t faced this issue yet, as the placement season got over soon after I was inducted. However, the approach towards this issue would depend upon the idea being pitched. I had worked as a volunteer at the Placement Department last semester and really enjoyed it. It is a really nice feeling to know that you’ve helped someone achieve an important milestone that has cost them four years’ worth of hard work.
Editor-in-Chief: The Editorial Board
Name: Khushi Goenka
Department: Mechatronics Engineering
E-mail: khushigoenka97@gmail.com
Being solely responsible for making the yearbook, a book that will be cherished by the outgoing batch for the rest of their lives, is no easy feat. But the Editorial Board thrives on the challenge and looks forward to giving it their best and going one notch above their predecessors in terms of student participation, quality of the content, and overall aesthetics. Last year’s yearbook was designed to commemorate the college’s 60th anniversary, which sets the bar high this time around and the Editorial Board come prepared to scale this mountain.
I knew I wanted to join the Ed board as soon as I had joined college, but it was on an impulse that I went for Admin interviews. The board at that time really made it an enjoyable experience for us and it’s the seniors really, who made being a part of this so special. If I may say so myself, there are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and conducting a B.tech 4th-year photo shoot is one of them.
Managing Editor: The Editorial Board
Name: Shreshta Bhat
Department: Computer and Communication Engineering
E-mail: bhat.shreshta@gmail.com
With the board being selected in October, it leaves just one month in the odd semester to plan the recruitments, scheduling photoshoots—all whilst deciding on the layout of the yearbook. The shortage of time proves to be a tricky challenge for them to overcome because the quality of the yearbook is not something they can compromise on. Despite the time crunch, the Editorial Board manages to churn out yearbooks worth remembering year after year, which is a true testament to their hard work and dedication towards their duties.
The Editorial Board was the first student body I got into here. I started as a writer, a little more than two years ago, so it was different back then. But I’ve since realised there’s more to this book than just words or art. Being the Managing Editor means a lot though. You’re representing the entire board to everyone outside
Editor-in-Chief: The MIT Post
Name: Meghana Dharmapuri
Department: Computer Science Engineering
E-mail: meghanadharmapuri@gmail.com
My duty, as the Editor-in-Chief, is primarily to ensure that the MIT Post consistently generates content—not just regarding event coverage, but also insightful articles for the benefit of students.
My aim is to bridge the gap between students and the administration, by working closely with the Council, constantly communicating with the students, and keeping track of all the problems the students are collectively facing.
My predecessors have helped give The Post a very prominent name across the campus.
To further the impact, we plan to create a more student-friendly interface, better the quality of every article that is produced and improving our reach.
At the end of my term, I hope to see better cohesion between The Post, the Student Council, administration and the students. The aim is to ensure that no student at any point feels lost, misinformed or confused.
Managing Editor: The MIT Post
Name: Karan Hiranandani
Department: Mechanical Engineering
E-mail: karan.hiranandani97@gmail.com
As the Managing Editor of The MIT Post, I am responsible for ensuring that a communication bridge is established between the student populace and the Council. In addition to these primary functions, Meghana and I are also members of the Student Council and contribute to the body’s daily functioning.
For starters, it is my prerogative to ensure that The Post does its best to communicate important announcements made by the Student Council. This serves as a two-way street because I also aim to make sure that student grievances are communicated to the Student Council through the Post.
The Post’s involvement in the Student Council has been undergoing drastic changes every year, and that is thanks to the dedication of my predecessors. They have managed to integrate both bodies satisfactorily and created a great platform for Meghana and me.
The major obstacles we face is striking a balance between the Student Council and The Post. There have been instances when my predecessors have been too preoccupied with The Post and despite their concerted efforts, they have not contributed to the functioning of the Student Council in a capacity they would have liked to. I hope to change that and give the two bodies equal importance.
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