Sprawling campuses in many city colleges are now under strict vigil, as authorities have installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on the pretext of safety of students. This, however, has not gone down well with students, who say that it curtails freedom and invades privacy, and this kind of vigil is not required at the college level.
While several colleges have brushed aside such fears and gone ahead with installing these cameras, students say that it is to track their movement on campus.
If Mount Carmel College has installed 110 cameras already in its degree college, 50 cameras watch students in the PU block. An additional 85 CCTV cameras were installed this academic year.
In Christ University at Koramangala, over 200 cameras capture the movement of students, vehicles and visitors. Ananth Narasimman, a UG student, felt it was an invasion of privacy. “Several times, we may have mood swings and want to be left alone. We certainly do not want CCTV cameras to be watching us. Although the cameras were installed to avoid thefts and safety, the staff use it to keep track of our movements and what we do during free time,” he said.
However, college authorities defended the move. Sr. Arpana, principal of Mount Carmel College, said the college installed 85 additional CCTV cameras this year near the gates, outside the library and on the corridors.
“We did so keeping in mind the safety of students as well to avoid thefts,” she said. At Christ University, college authorities claimed that the cameras were installed to monitor vehicles entering the campus, and to assist in better traffic management. Varsity Pro Vice-Chancellor Fr. Abraham said, “We have not installed them in the classroom, as students need to have their privacy.”
However, some favour the installation of the cameras as they feel it has helped reduce thefts. The sprawling 1,000 acres Jnanabharathi campus of the Bangalore University, which has just eight cameras, will get seven more shortly.
The university, after the rape of a student of the National Law School of India University, had installed the eight CCTV cameras. The police have now asked authorities to install high-resolution cameras for the safety of students and commuters, who take the mostly deserted roads in the night. However, not all students are against the installation of CCTV cameras.
Disha Sanghvi, a final year B.A. student of Mount Carmel College, said it would help the staff keep a tab on the dress code and keep an eye on what students do during their free time. She, however, admitted that the cameras forced students to be more “careful” of their actions.
