IITK101: Students’ Gymkhana

KIAP (Kanpur Indo-American Program) was instrumental in building the very foundation of IITK. The institute has taken a lot from the Mentor American universities, including their culture and student union system. The Students’ Gymkhana is a fully student-run organization that comprises various councils, cells, committees, and the Students’ Senate. The Gymkhana model aims to instill a sense of leadership, responsibility, and management in the student community by exposing them to real-life problems and key decision-making scenarios to make students better prepared for the future that awaits them.

The Gymkhana consists of the President’s Office, the Students’ Senate, and the four councils, which are MnC, SnT, GnS, and AnC. You would’ve probably met the heads of the councils, the General Secretaries, during your orientation. (That is if you attended it :P). 

President, Students’ Gymkhana

At the apex of the Students’ Gymkhana sits the President, who is the representative of the students of IIT Kanpur at all forums of the institute. The President is elemental in coordinating the general affairs of the student body. The President aims to be the voice of the 7000 (Numbers invite attention) students that reside at our Kalyanpur Campus. (like we have many XD) 

The President is a member of various campus communities and works for the betterment of the student community. The Academic Senate (considered the highest policy-making body of the institute), Institute Affairs Committee, Anti-Ragging Committee among others are forums where the President actively participates to address and resolve the grievances of the students. The President is also invited to the Board of Governors’ meetings when matters relating to students are discussed. 

It is also the duty of the president to coordinate and supervise all the cells, councils, and festivals to ensure smooth conduct of all activities throughout the academic year. Currently, the President is Mr. Nikunj Kothari, Y17.

Sounds like a lot of work and responsibility, right?

To aid and complement the President in their duties, the President’s Office was inaugurated in the academic year 2016-17 which comprised members at various levels to broaden the vision and reach of the President’s scope of work. The Executive Council of the President’s Office takes up a plethora of initiatives such as Convocation, Gymkhana Day, Yearbook, Senior Year Mentorship Program, etc. for the upliftment of the student community. The council coordinates with various Institute level committees such as the Animal Welfare cell, Environment Advisory Committee, Academics and Ethics cell, etc. to ensure a congenial environment for the holistic development of all.

Students’ Senate of the Gymkhana, IITK

Our own legislative body: the Students’ Senate, consists of members of the Senate, called the Senators, who are elected by their own batch. The Senate represents the collective voice of all the students. The heads of the various councils, which you would’ve met during your orientation, are ex-officio members of the Senate.

Like all legislative bodies, the Students’ Senate keeps a check on all student activities, especially that of the Students’ Gymkhana, and is the central policy-making student body. In normal years, the election for the Students’ Senate and the executives are held during mid-January, and the charge is handed over in early March.

Again, just like the Speaker of the US House of Representatives or the Indian Loksabha, we have the Chairperson of the Senate: they are the person responsible for running the Senate. Along with the President, he/she is ex-officio nominated in many of the institute committees, e.g. the Academic Senate. Currently, the Chairperson is Mr. Yash Maheshwari, Y17. 

The Senate is a general forum for all students, has many sub-committees that have confined domains and are responsible for specific issues, like UG-SAC which deals mostly with the academic matters of the UGs, RPC, which constantly works on filling the loopholes and bettering the Gymkhana constitution, and CoSHA which is responsible for the supervising the functioning of the Halls of Residence.

Other than that, the Senate has its own nominees to various institute committees like the SUGC, which is a committee comprising of various professors who create major policies for the UGs, like branch change; the SSAC (a word the whole campus fears) which deals with the disciplinary cases of the students; and the SSPC, which works in tandem with the DoSA for the disbursement of various scholarships and prizes.

Cells of the Students’ Gymkhana

1. E-Cell

Entrepreneurship Cell IIT Kanpur is a non-profit organization aiming to induce an entrepreneurial mindset in the students. They focus on watering the ‘Ideas’ in the bud and help them bloom into impactful endeavors through networking student enterprises from campus to incubators, seeding funds, and angel investors to transform the newly proposed ideas into successful start-ups. 

The team comprises “Core Team” members, ”Secretaries” (2nd Year), and “Volunteers” (1st-year students). E-Cell organizes an abundance of events throughout the year to promote entrepreneurial activities in and around the campus. The annual E-Summit witnessed massive participation from all over India with events like TEDx and StartUp Master Class. E-Cell also conducts various lectures and workshops focused on budding entrepreneurs. Startup Internship Programme helps IITK students land internships in start-ups and know their working in greater depth. 

During the pandemic, virtual events like “Entrepreneurial Extravaganza”, “Entrepreneurial Bootcamp” and numerous talks by eminent entrepreneurs were held. 

In this semester, Startup Internship Program, Business Week (real-world business problems), and workshops by renowned entrepreneurs/businessmen) have been planned to be organized. A full-fledged course on entrepreneurship in the course curriculum is planned to be introduced in the future. 

CWC

The Community Welfare Cell (CWC) works for a campus ‘community’ which extends not only to the student and the faculty members, but also to the staff members, the workers and their families, and all individuals who are related to the campus.

The Cell currently has five wings under it:

1. Prakriti, working in the field of environmental awareness and impact assessment to achieve equality in terms of sustainability.

2. Prayas, working in the field of education for the marginalized sections of the society to achieve equality in educational opportunities.

3. Raktarpan, working to combat blood shortage in order to achieve equality in proper healthcare facilities.

4. Unmukt, working to address the gender and sexual diversity in the community and to achieve equality against discrimination.

5. Vivekananda Samiti, working to spread the message of Swami Vivekananda among the campus residents and helping the entire community tackle its problems through motivation and inspiration. 

Election Commission

Election Commission works to conduct fair elections, providing a democratic setup to choose the Gymkhana Executives, and Senators. In the General Election, conducted sometime after the start of the Even semester, positions like the President, General Secretaries are open for elections.

The team consists of a Chief Election Officer (usually 4th Year), Managers of Election Commission (usually 3rd Year), Senior Election Officers (usually 2nd Year), and Election Officers (usually 1st Year). Joining the Election Commission would give you an overview of work in an election ranging from (but not limited to), ratifying manifestos, vigilance during code of conduct, working at polling booths, counting of votes, and conducting executive debates. 

Vox Populi

Vox Populi, the journalism body of IIT Kanpur, is among the most dynamic and actively growing student bodies on campus. Vox works at catering to campus residents, alumni, and other stakeholders through print and online media. In recent years Vox has played crucial roles in delivering impactful pieces and bringing stories of different walks of life to the campus junta and providing voices to the voiceless. (But we would rather let you be the witness of it.)

Outreach Cell 

Outreach Cell is the Students’ Gymkhana body that works in collaboration with the Dean of Resources and Alumni, IIT Kanpur. Contributing to the crucial avenues of strengthening student-alumni relations, they publicize achievements of IIT Kanpur and organize outreach programs in IIT Kanpur. This work of the Outreach Cell has been divided into three wings:

Alumni Relations: The Alumni Relations wing is the direct point of contact with the outside world: maintaining relations with alumni by attending meetups and alumni chapters across the country, spreading awareness among potential students by visiting cities to organize info sessions, and also getting in touch with the corporate world for collaborations. 

Creatives: The Creatives wing works towards generating engaging content to create a positive image of the institute like content for future students’ website and offline sessions, presentations at alumni meet, collating, and pitching Students’ Gymkhana proposals to corporates, etc. This content is finally published by the design team and web team.

Campus: The Campus wing works actively on events for student-faculty relations. The team works hard to publicize student research and achievements of various cells/clubs leading to raise funding for student-led projects. They have successfully conducted campaigns such as #ThatsIITK, #AskIITK for prospective students.

The outreach cell opens recruitment for the students from their 2nd year as secretaries, where they assist the managers of their respective wings in the works pertaining to the cell. They can work in various divisions of the cell, i.e. Alumni, Creative, or Campus wing.

Throughout the year, Outreach Cell conducts numerous talks, and student-alumni engagement sessions like Tips from the Top, Heritage Search, and Distinguished Alumni Interviews. They support the Institute in planning the Convocation Ceremony, Alumni Gatherings, and Alumni Branch Meetings. A few steps to improve the relations between campus students and IITK alumni, such as the Alumni Buddy Program and Mock-en-Joy, are also taken annually.

Writing Credits: Akshat Goyal, Devansh Parmar, Shiven Tripathi

Editing: Milind Nigam