Kolkata: Calcutta University has floated an e-tender to engage security, housekeeping and maintenance personnel, marking its first administrative move towards making the Integrated Science and Technology Campus at Rajarhat New Town operational.
The recently issued tender seeks agencies to provide security guards, supervisors, armed guards, cleaners, sweepers, gardeners, plumbers and plumbing helpers for a three-year period. The selected agency will be responsible for campus safety, security, housekeeping and allied services, and will have to deploy the required workforce within 15 days of the work order.
Vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh said the engagement of basic manpower was necessary ahead of the formal handover of the campus. “The campus is expected to be handed over to us by March. Once that happens, security and maintenance staff will be required immediately to safeguard the infrastructure and ensure basic upkeep,” he said.
The campus has been built on 5.503 acres of land allotted by the state government in 2019 and comprises a G+7 academic block and a G+3 building. University officials said construction was nearing completion, while furnishing and department-specific infrastructure would be taken up after the handover.
Ghosh said the university was considering shifting or expanding departments that were easier to accommodate logistically, adding that decisions on relocation would be taken after consultations once the campus was formally handed over. He noted that departments with heavy or fixed laboratory infrastructure, such as Applied Physics and Radio Physics, faced constraints due to specialised equipment.
The vice-chancellor said the New Town campus was also being considered for new academic initiatives. “New courses will have to be introduced to keep pace with changing academic and technological requirements. While nothing has been finalised, the campus gives us the space to plan such programmes in a phased manner over the next one or two years,” he said.