A new rule mandating 70–80 working hours per week for research students at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has triggered massive unrest on campus. The new attendance rule has been mandated by Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (ESE) and it applies to staff, faculty and students at the campus.

While the students have accused the administration of enforcing a “spy-like surveillance” system and “damaging to mental health”, the campus has justified the new attendance rule move as a way to bring “transparency, discipline, and accountability”.

The new attendance policy was implemented this month. It sets minimum weekly working hours for staff, faculty, MTech, and PhD scholars at IISc Bengaluru.

According to the circular, permanent and contractual staff must log 40 w

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