IIT Bombay students show the finger to their Mess Managers

April 27, 2012 - PRLog -- There has been an interesting news story at IIT Bombay, with majority of IIT Bombay hostels having decided to opt for Fingerprint systems for managing their messing facilities, which means its not possible any more for a student of another hostel to have a grub at a specific hostel. After the recent bout of food poisoning in various IIT hostels, there were multiple administrative changes done to the hostels, and restricting the number of students allowed to have their food at the mess is one such step. This will ensure reduction in food wastage, as a better approximation of food to be prepared can be made, and will hence lead to better food facilities and lower chances of poisoning.

Some innovative hostels like Hostel 4 are contemplating to link their biometric systems with a mess management software, so that a complete and accurate account of every student's fees can be maintained through automated software. This idea will help the mess managers and also the student coordinators. Now, the free exam time Maggi won't be easy as you'll have to pay (by marking your attendance through your finger) before being able to claim your food. Expect more hostels in different parts of India, to follow suit. After all, IIT Bombay is leading the way to innovation. It has been implemented by Incept in Hostels 9, 10, and 8.

Not only Mess Managers, IIT Bombay has decided to embrace Biometric in even more interesting ways. For example, music room of Hostel 10 or its computer room are all protected from any external entry using Biometric. After all, why allow unnecessary elements from other hostels to use unassigned properties.

This has raised questions and even led to discussions amongst alumni, thus questioning the need of such systems and whether they raise a trust issue amongst students. Well, one of the pioneers of this concept, and an IIT Bombay alumnus, Ashwin Srivastava disagrees. He says 'Biometric Systems can only do one thing: make you and your properties more secure while ensuring discipline and encouraging truthfulness amongst students, thus leading to improved trust and more cordial environment'.

So, love it or hate it, or call it the 'necessary evil', Biometric is here to stay and help every section of society take a solid step towards development!