Saturday, 10 April 2021 | PNS |Dehradun
A hundred years ago, Rajwara Camp in Dehradun, which then trained young princes, had to shut down due to the Spanish flu pandemic. The 138-acre campus today is home to Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), which probably is the only boarding school in the country to remain completely functional during the Covid 19 pandemic.
“As the news of the pandemic broke last spring, famous schools in the Doon valley shut down but it was different at RIMC, which is a functioning military unit in addition to being a residential school,” says Sidharth Mishra, publisher of The Rimcollian, the alumni newsletter of RIMC, which has carried a detailed report on the humungous exercise in its March 2021 edition.
The team led by the commandant, colonel Ajay Kumar, lieutenant colonel Gaurav Hamal, lieutenant colonel Gyan Ranjan Sahu and the academic head Prashant Kumar Sharma decided to keep the wheels of RIMC turning without a squeak. This needed access control, keeping the routine close to normal, being medically and administratively prepared and also assuage fears of the parents. Since the staff and faculty residing outside the campus were asked to stay out, the College was run on a skeleton staff, but all tasks were executed with the same efficiency.
To ensure social distancing, classes were held in open spaces, the syllabus was completed in time and the exams for the Spring Term 2020 conducted efficiently and progress reports made well within time. Meals in cadets mess were staggered, dished out in the lawn as a buffet, ensuring social distancing and minimal interaction with the waiters.
The older house system for residence was replaced with class-wise in residence, limiting the interpersonal interaction to a small group of about 25 in each dormitory. The main ward in the College Hospital was kept ready for isolation facility.
While the rest of the world was confined to their flats and houses during the national lockdown, team RIMC tried to maintain a modicum of normalcy by allowing cadets and staff to use the vast expansive playgrounds for exercise, all within segregated laid down timings. The bigger challenge was to send cadets home for vacations. While, parents from nearby states arranged to pick their wards, the challenge was how to send those cadets home who were from far off states as the public transport system was grounded.
Special buses were organised, carefully calculated provisions of water and rations was made so that the travelling cadets did not have to purchase anything en-route. Military personnel were placed on buses to ensure smooth crossing of several state borders. Liaison was carried out with state officials through which these buses had to pass and also with the parents and state officials to which these buses were headed so that the quarantine protocols were followed.
The story did not end here. Preparations had to be made to receive the cadets back for the next semester. Dormitories were earmarked for isolation and cadets joining back were segregated in these dorms. After the mandatory quarantine period these cadets joined the normal routine. Cadets joined back in small batches and their arrival scheduled to quarantine them in small batches. For those delayed in arrival at the campus were reached online utilizing the available Smart Classes infrastructure.
“When all’s said and done, the Covid-19 pandemic was, and continues to be a learning experience for us here at the College,” said colonel Kumar.
