October 12, 2010
School of Engineering, Bengaluru
 

A group of students from the Bengaluru campus have developed a Gate Pass System – a complete software solution to issue and track gate passes. Effective July 28, the security department on campus began using this system exclusively to record student visits outside the hostel premises.
 

Ramesh R. K., Pavan Kashyap S., both final-year students of B.Tech. (CSE) got together with their friend Sudeep Kumar, a final-year student of B.Tech. (IT) to take on this initiative. The trio was guided by Prof. Rajesh M., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, to complete the project.
 

“We wanted to ensure a simple, paper-free, chaos-free and hassle-free process to enable students obtain gate passes through this software,” explained the student team involved in the project.
 

Gate passes are needed for students staying in the hostel when going outside the hostel premises. On regular week days, they are usually permitted to go outside for a few hours as needed. On weekends, they can request for out passes, that allow them to stay out for longer periods.
 

Prof. Rajesh explained how the system worked.
 

“The students are given a login and password that they can use to login to the campus intranet. After logging in, they can make a request for obtaining a gate pass or an out pass. They can also monitor the status of previously made requests. All this from the comfort of sitting in front of a computer.”
 

“The chief warden can approve all such requests made. The system is very user friendly.”
 

“Student IDs have unique barcode registration numbers. Only students with approved passes are allowed to go out of the campus, when they swipe their ID cards. When the student returns, the card must be swiped again. Both the out time and return time will be logged in the software database.”
 

“Earlier, a lot of time was wasted in collecting passes for outings; now this software helps students save time. We also save paper as well as maintain detailed records of student outings, which is very useful.”
 

The detailed records are available to hostel wardens and the admin department who can track the movement of students through a wide variety of reports that can be generated.
 

The system also has a feature to block the issue of passes to any student who did not report back on time after the previous outing.
 

“This software is very useful for us,” stated Abhiraj, a second year B.Tech. (EEE) student. “Now we need not need not run around to find the chief warden to get our outing passes approved. All we have to do is plan ahead of time and enter the details via the intranet.”
 

The Gate Pass System was on the wish list of both the management and students on campus for long; it has finally materialized. We congratulate the team that made it possible and wish them the very best for their future endeavors.