NEHRU HALL KA TEMPO
A 2021-22 Project by IIT-Kharagpur Alumni from Nehru Hall to modernize Nehru Hall of Residence by providing amenities appropriate for the IITians of 2020's while retaining the charm and characteristics of the 1950's.
1. NH Rooms: Modernize all rooms with proper wall and floor finishes, appropriate ergonomically correct furniture with storage, lighting, electronic networks, and improved climatic conditions. Improvements will also include common hallways, restrooms, and laundry amenities.
2. Common Room: The only multi-purpose activity room is small, unventilated, deteriorating conditions and inadequate for larger gatherings. Proposal is to renovate it by adding a new mezzanine space (raising the roof), provide the latest audio-video capabilities, lighting and sound systems, flexible flooring and state-of-the-art amenities.
3. Gymnasium: Create a new state-of-the-art gymnasium and recreation facility area with all finishes and equipment.
4. Dining Hall System: The entire kitchen and dining facilities need to bring to modern standards. The dining hall itself needs to be re-organized creating a small short-order area; and an enlarged main dining hall.
5. Overall Building, aesthetics, landscaping and parking facilities: The exterior impact of NH needs to re-vamped while maintaining the original architectural styles. Landscaping may be coordinated with a proposed PAN Loop Japanese garden theme.
- Varadu Seshamani (1969, ME), President of the IIT Foundation India and Distinguished Service Awardee
- Sukhminder Grewal (1970, ME)
- Ron (Ranbir) Gupta (1970, Arch.), President of the IITKGP Foundation USA and Life Fellow
- Vinod Jain (1970, CH), Distinguished Alumni Awardee
- Ashim Datta (1979, AG)
Alumni Support Opportunities:
Nehruite Board: Name on a general 'Nehru Alumni' Board (Any amount)
Room Names: Name plates on the rooms stayed in=INR 2.5L ($3,500) each
Nehru Hall Common Room Dahdahs: INR 10L ($15,000)
Nehru Hall Mess Dahdahs: INR 10L ($15,000)
Nehru Hall A/B/C/D Wing Dahdahs: INR 10L ($15,000)
Lifetime Dahdahs: INR 33L ($50,000)
Click here to check out a chart with more details about ways you can support Nehru Hall!
GIVE BACK TO YOUR NEHRU HALL TODAY!
If you would like to make a contribution in INR, click here.
You may have questions about the Nehru Ka Tempo Campaign and our hope is that we can get you the answers you need.
Q: Why can't the Institute undertake repairs and renovations themselves? What procedures are in place to reduce the possibility of obstacles?
The current maintenance budgets that are available for residence halls are miniscule. This campaign would bolster efforts and allow for more comprehensive renovations to Nehru.
To ensure that obstacles are reduced, the Nehru Ka Tempo organizing team has been working with Director V K Tewari (also a fellow Nehruite) to take the appropriate steps for handling the project through third-party contractors. The team will continue to work with authorities at IIT-Kharagpur to keep lines of communication open for ease of renovation work.
Q: Do we have a complete design for the updates? If yes, what are our priority areas/milestones?
We do have a design concept in place. You can view it here.
In terms of priorities, the rooms are the FIRST PRIORITY. The work will begin wing by wing to accommodate any students that will be staying on campus. After the rooms are completed, we will begin to work on the dining/kitchen/mess areas, common room, and all other shared spaces.
Q: How does a donor like me stay up to date on the progress?
We will be sending email updates to the Nehru Hall group in addition to keeping the following webpage current. Our goal is for this undertaking to be transparent for donors!
Q: Have you consulted the current students for their suggestions?
Yes, we asked the current President of Nehru Hall to solicit suggestions from the residents. We will maintain contact with the students throughout the process and plan to include them in the decision making.
Q: Will 100% of the donations made for Nehru Ka Tempo through the IITKGP Foundation find a way to Nehru Hall or will the institute retain a part of the donation made?
Since the project is being handled through third-party contractors, all the donations made via the Foundation will be placed towards the project with no overhead being retained.
Q: What is the timeline for this project and how will the project be managed/executed on the ground?
The timeline for this project is one year for the initial build and follow-on maintenance for at least five years. With us working through third-party contractors, we will request updates on the project that we can share with the donors.
Q: This year, many people have committed donations to be used towards COVID relief/projects. Is it possible that a pledge can be made this year that will be completed next year?
Yes, this will be a possibility. If interested in this option, please send an email to info@iitkgpfoundation.org. In addition to one-time donations, we are also offering weekly, monthly, and quarterly donations to allow for donors to extend the donation period.
Any additional questions? Send us an email at info@iitkgpfoundation.org.
Nehru Ka Tempo Supporters
Over $350,000 has already been committed to this project.
Check out the list of and join the Nehruites that have already pledged their financial support to this project!
Nehru Ka Tempo Campaign Updates
We will post photos and updates on this page as they become available!
In case you missed out on any of our earlier communications that were sent out, you can view them by clicking here.
Nehru Hall Design Elements
This page will be updated to share the design elements of the upcoming Nehru Hall renovation project.
Nehru Ka Tempo Vision
For some of us, it is fifty years (or longer) since we have stayed in Nehru Hall, for others just five (or less) but the memory burns just as bright. The warmth of our Nehru Hall mates still surges and places a lump in our throats. It is fresh and will never fade. We break into a smile that sometimes turns into a tear in our eyes, for those we miss. Realizing how much we cherish those memories and how those remembrances still continue to make us smile.
Nehru Hall gave a lot to us without question and it sent us on our journey in life. The corridor, those stairs, those green doors, it gave us all it had, NOW it is our turn...
Why does Nehru need these updates?
Time has taken its toll on Nehru Hall, it needs us, it needs us to give back.
As told by a Nehruite: Many of us have visited Nehru Hall since we graduated. We came alone, with our spouses, with our children and with our grandchildren. Sadly, the visit is anticlimactic; it just doesn't look like one of the world's top universities. It just doesn't look like the place that launched CEO of Google. The gap between the calibre of the students and the quality of Nehru Hall is not just a gap but a chasm. The Hall is 70 years old. The 'big' change was adding a fourth floor and an annex to the dining room. The bathrooms have been patched up haphazardly. Other than that, a minimum expense on maintenance. The rooms looked exactly the way they were 70 years ago, as if nothing has changed.
The stairs we climbed and the corridors we walked are still there. Yes, they are there and that's about it.
Given this, there is no way to avoid the word-pathetic! We have to wonder why it has ended up this way! Like everything else, at the core of it all is money.
It's quite simple: budgets and priorities. At the Central Government level, there are priorities for the IITs. The IIT Governing Board works within budgets and pre-set priorities. And, competing with all other demands, spending money on Nehru Hall doesn't make it.
After decades, what we see is the result of the lack of funds for Nehru Hall. And it isn't going to change. The situation, the impact and the need are clear: the situation is shameful, the impact massive. It keeps IIT Kharagpur out of the top tier of global universities. At 70, Nehru Hall needs a massive refurbishment. And it's up to us now!