Cycle of committees
Jagmohan Chopra

Roorkee University had a beautiful campus spread over an area of 350 acres. While the university office, departments and library were located in the centre of the campus, most hostels were on the periphery, making it necessary for students to have some kind of transport to move around.

Unchained bicycles on the university campus were often stolen	The campus of Roorkee University is spread over 350 acres

In 1966, the year we joined the university, students did not have cars, scooters or motor cycles. They either had bicycles or they walked. The ratio of students who had bicycles to those who did not was roughly 2:3, thereby prompting students to steal them`A0whenever there was`A0need. With a large number of duplicate keys floating around, the conventional ‘click’ locks were not considered safe. When parked, bicycles had to be heavily chained, lest they got stolen. While students`A0on`A0the ground floor could take them up to their rooms and chain them to their windows, students staying on the first and second floors had to park their bicycles at stands near the staircase on the ground floor.

It was from these places that these bicycles were stolen most of the time. Unchained ones were also stolen from the mess or engineering students’ club.

If the figures displayed outside the Dean’s office were an indication, the number of`A0bicycles`A0reported to have been stolen every year was on the rise and threatening to assume alarming proportions. The Dean finally decided to put his foot down and appointed a students’ committee on stolen bicycles with Niranjan Bagchi, a fourth year metallurgy student, as chairman and four other students as members.

One day, while returning to our rooms after dinner, a notice on the notice board caught our attention. It said: "Niranjan Bagchi, chairman, stolen bicycles committee, will address the students on the ‘menace of theft of bicycles and strategies to overcome the same’ in the lawns of Govind Bhawan today at 12 noon. All are welcome. The address will be followed by a question and answer session. Keeping in mind the unearthly hour of the meeting, tea will not be served."

All of us decided to go and listen to what`A0Bagchi had to say. Bagchi started by saying: "We have studied the problem of theft of bicycles from all angles, including social, economic as well as financial, and are pleased to share our findings with you.

"Firstly, a majority of`A0the students we spoke to said in anonymity that they stole`A0bicycles on impulse to see a night show at the distant Defence Cinema, or meet friends in another hostel for a late-night session of cards. They seldom stole bicycles for profit. A small section of students, however, admitted they stole them to ‘teach the other guy a lesson.’

"Secondly, contrary to`A0popular belief, theft of bicycles in most cases was found to be`A0temporary, for, those stolen from one hostel were often found`A0in another.

"Thirdly, the average time taken to find the stolen bicycles was three to four weeks, depending on the time and energy the owner was willing to spend in moving from hostel to hostel to find his vehicle.

"Fourthly, in some cases, bicycle thieves were found to be stretching the game a bit too far`A0by throwing the stolen vehicles in the deeper end of the swimming pool. A few these without seats and seats without bicycles were taken out of the pool today and will be available for inspection`A0between 4 and 5 pm tomorrow outside the swimming pool. Those students whose bicycles have been stolen in the`A0recent past may fill a claim form and take possession of the same after presenting`A0proof of ownership.

"And lastly, the business of stolen bicycles, so far limited to students, seems to be spreading its tentacles to the teaching staff as well with 12 professors reporting their bicycles to be stolen from departments they had gone to for lectures.

"Keeping all these things in mind, the committee has made certain recommendations which you may please note. One, the responsibility for the safety of bicycles rests entirely with the owners. They are advised to keep their vehicles chained at all times except while driving.

Two, the committee recommends you not to clean your bicycles frequently, for those that are spick and span have been found to be more prone to theft than dirty ones.

And three, the committee advises you to sell your bicycles for whatever they are worth and start walking inside the campus, thereby improving your health, bringing the percentage of stolen bicycles down and reducing our responsibility of conducting such research in future."

"Sir, I have a question," said a student. "Aren’t`A0 bicycles with fancy handles, colours, bells,`A0 bags and baskets more prone to theft?"

"A good question, but contrary to common belief, our committee found that fancy bicycles were less stolen because they were few in number and could be traced from a distance," said Bagchi.

"Sir, what kind of proof are we expected to produce while taking possession of our bicycles," asked another student.

"Well, we suppose a bill, receipt, key to lock, the make of the bicycle, chassis number, style of the seat or seat cover, type of bell, make of the tyre, make of the chain cover, dents on the mudguard, creaky noise or number of punctures in the tube should be good enough proof. But in the absence of any concrete guidelines, our committee has requested the authorities to appoint another committee for making recommendations in this regard."

"Sir, I know we are getting late, but one last question. By asking the authorities to appoint another committee, are you not trying to pass the buck," asked a junior.

"We probably are, but that’s standard management practice" said Bagchi. "And it works, "said`A0other members of the committee.

The gathering of over 200 students shook their heads in agreement and thanked Bagchi for the good work done by his committee.