The work to improve surveillance on university campuses by installing CCTV cameras is moving at a snail’s pace in Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) and Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV), both in Tirupati.
Though many universities are considering security enhancement on their own, the trigger was the diktat from the State government following the suicide of a student Rishiteswari in July 2015 allegedly due to ragging in Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. Both the universities got down to the task immediately, but procedural wrangles and budgetary constraints slowed down the process.
SVU conceived a large-scale system with 1,000 cameras of 1020 MP resolution installed in its 25 academic buildings, hostels, mess etc., not only at the entrance, but also in the corridors. “We plan to utilise funds from the Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for the installation of cameras and biometric system,” Vice-Chancellor Avula Damodaram told The Hindu. The varsity has already installed 350 cameras, of which around 275 are operational in the testing stage.
For the entire campus, SPMVV has identified 22 places, mostly the entrance to a building, to install cameras, of which only two have been installed so far, one at the administrative building’s portico and the other at the Engineering College. The others will be installed at the hostels, mess and the guest house. The e-tendering process is on and we expect it to be over in three months, Registrar D.M. Mamatha said.
“Looking beyond ragging, the system should track the possible entry of anti-social elements into the campus and also curb pilferage in canteens. Performance and behaviour certainly improve when there is monitoring,” says P. Vijayalakshmi, former Registrar of SPMVV, who was on the State government's panel formed to probe Rishiteswari's death.