Attendees:

Arnab Rai Chaudhuri, B Ananthanarayan, V. Venkataraman, J. Haritsa, T. Shankar, Debasis Sengupta, Sriram Ramaswamy, Vasant Natarajan, AdiNarayana Murthy, Ragothama, M. Sekhar, N. Srinivasan, G. Narayana Naik, A. Suyumbu

The secretary presented the main points of the discussion held between the office bearers and the director. With reference to the director's views on raising funds through alumni and external agencies, the members felt that, while it is not desirable to accept funds with strings attached, it would be better if the institute has a strong corpus. In particular, Prof. Sriram Ramaswamy pointed out that seed money to incoming faculty needs to be substantially enhanced in order to stay competitive. With reference to the director's comments on the housing situation, it was felt that the FA persist in its efforts to improve the on-campus housing situation. While the members agreed that leasing off-campus apartments might be difficult due to maintenance issues, Ananth pointed out that the institute does not have sufficient incentives for faculty to move off campus. In particular he felt that subsidized loans and/or other incentives should be offered to encourage faculty to buy homes outside. The Director's position that new on-campus housing can be planned only after the appointment of a town planner was not accepted by most of the members. It was felt that this will only delay matters further.

After a detailed discussion among EC members following the above briefing, the following consensus emerged:

1. The President should write to the director insisting on the role of the FA in any decision arrived by the town planner since it affects all faculty members. The FA should also insist on a time frame for the appointment and subsequent report of the town planner.

2. The Office bearers should meet the Registrar and Estate Officer to prevail upon them the importance of sufficient good-quality campus housing.

The main issue that was debated referred to the transfer of occupants of DDQ quarters into regular D and E type quarters. While some members felt that faculty should not be forced to move into inferior housing, others voiced the opinion that DDQ to E-type transfer should be acceptable to the faculty. Mr. Murthy however cautioned that the FA has already taken a position in this issue through a letter to the House Allotment Committee and should not change it's stand often as it will erode the credibility of the FA.

The funds available with HBA was about Rs.35 lakhs. This is sufficient only to meet a few requests. However there were no pending requests before the HBA committee. One of the members therefore proposed that this fund is no longer attractive and should be wound up. Others felt that the HBA can be revived with better incentives. It was resolved that this issue be taken up at the next GBM.