Cops will accompany angadia employees this Diwali.

IIT-M administrators have proposed that women should not move around after 11pm without escorts, who will primarily be male student volunteers. What happens if the escort turns out to be a molester? Well, the student will have to carry a whistle which she has to blow in case of an emergency. The faculty is divided over the idea as well; in a closed communication of emails, some teachers said it amounted to treating students like children; in response to one such email, a senior faculty member referred to those advocating greater freedom for students as “liberal morons.” IIT-M director Bhaskar Ramamurthi confirmed that all the proposals are being considered to deal with the issue. We are talking about ways to stop potential sexual harassment of female students. Because students frequently stay up late and wake up late, we also want to limit internet usage in the dorms. Women students have been advised not to travel alone to the following locations: the road between Gajendra Circle and the Biotechnology Block, the road from Gajendra Circle to Sarayu Extension, 5th Cross Road, Lake View Road, Oat Road, and Delhi Avenue. A senior teacher defending the new norms said there were additional proposals to protect students on campus. Teachers opposed to the new proposals said management should increase patrolling to address the security issues. “If the administration does not trust the sexual maturity and morality of students, it should hold open house discussions to thrash out issues,” they said. Leading international colleges like Yale, Harvard, and Brown run such initiatives to promote a positive, democratic interaction amongst residential student communities, according to one of them.