CCTV cameras were installed at Jadavpur University’s gate numbers 1 and 2 on October 10, a day that marks the completion of two months since the death of a first-year student that triggered the demand for surveillance.
A JU official said cameras would also be installed at the remaining three gates
of the main campus at the entrances of its Salt Lake campus and the main hostel by the end of this week.
A 17-year-old boy was allegedly thrown off the balcony of the main hostel by senior students late on August 9.
He died at a private hospital early on August 10.
While probing the death of the first-year student, the police had sought CCTV footage of the main hostel but JU registrar Snehamanu Basu could not provide that because there was none.
“The state government sanctioned around Rs 37.50 lakh for the installation of the facility. Webel Technology Ltd has executed the project,” a university official told Metro on Tuesday.
Faced with resistance from a section of students, the university authorities had
earlier appeared to drag their feet on installing the CCTV system.
On August 22, education minister Bratya Basu said in response to a reporter’s question about the death of the first-year student of Jadavpur University that it was not clear to him why the JU authorities were unwilling to install CCTV cameras, disregarding a directive of the Supreme Court.
The UGC had written to universities in 2014 about installing CCTV cameras.
