New Campus of Ajmer Polytechnic: New campus of Ajmer Polytechnic was located on Nasirabad Road, outside the city municipal limits, far from the madding crowds, about seven kilometers from the city centre. The campus had village Makhupura on the southern side and some rural plots and hutments on the northern side. Eastern side was bounded by Ajmer Nasirabad road, whereas, the western side had Ajmer-Khandwa rail link running parallel to Ajmer Nasirabad road. Makhupura Railway station was small wayside station standing along the western boundary of the campus. The total spread of the campus was 125 acres. The soil was good and fertile and was in use for agriculture. There were eight open wells on the campus. We selected two of them and fitted them with diesel engines and pumps. There were seven persons working on the campus. We retained all of them and gradually absorbed them in our cadres. There were seven bullocks and three carts, which were in use for farming operations. We retained a pair of bullocks and a cart for local transport of materials and disposed of the rest. There was a small hillock on the north-west side of the campus, which turned out to be a rich storehouse of rock, rock-fragments, gravel and sand.
The unfinished building was located about 100 yards inside the campus, facing Ajmer Nasirabad Road. The ground floor of the building was in the form of H with a central hall in the front suitable for ceremonial occasions. The hall had one good sized room suitable for class rooms and one side room suitable for staffrooms on either side of the hall. There were two good sized rooms and two small rooms in each of the northern and southern wings. Public Works Department had already commenced the work related to completion of the existing built up portion on the ground floor. Plans had also been provided to the Public Works Department for the construction of four rooms for laboratories as extensions to the wings on the ground floor. In addition, the first floor was to be constructed, as exact duplication of the ground floor, with staircases on both sides. Public Works Department was expected to complete all construction by the end of June 1959, well in time before the commencement of next session of the polytechnic in July 1959.
Logistics: Rajasthan was formed in 1949 by the merger of erstwhile princely states of Rajputana. Naturally, the cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner and Kota, which formed part of Rajasthan, had opportunities for fast track growth and development after the formation of Rajasthan. Ajmer, which was a centrally administered area of the British Government, formally merged with Rajasthan in 1956. It remained politically neglected during all those years and the growth and development was almost stagnant. Adarshnagar was a neat and clean neighbourhood with well built houses on the outskirts of Ajmer. It was located about 5 kilometers on the southern side of the city along Ajmer Nasirabad Road. It was bounded by hills on the eastern side and Ajmer Nasirabad road on the west side. Ajmer Polytechnic had its campus about one and a half kilometers south of Adarshnagar. Ajmer Polytechnic did not have any residential accommodation for the staff or students in 1959. It provided a great sense of relief to find that most of the houses at Adarshnagar were lying vacant and were available on rent to the staff and students of the polytechnic. When we picked up the first house inside Adarshnagar gate, the owner of the house told us, that, the house was vacant. He added that the rent of the house was Rs 80 per month, but he was going to charge us Rs 100 per month. We readily agreed to his proposal and took possession of the house for our residence. It was a well built house with three bedrooms and a very spacious inner courtyard and a lot of open space and trees, within the boundary walls outside the building. Most of the local members of the staff and students were living in the city, but those of them who did not have accommodation in the city chose houses of their liking at Adarshnagar.
Those days pushbikes were commonly used as mode of transport in the towns. Naturally, members of the staff and students living in the city and at Adarshnagar, used bicycles or pushbikes for their trips to and from Ajmer Polytechnic. Some of them also utilized train services from Ajmer to Makhupura and city bus service from Ajmer to Adarshnagar. The city bus service was subsequently extended upto Ajmer Polytechnic campus.
Experimental houses for maintenance staff: The operation for building living accommodation for maintenance staff got a kick from the small hillock standing on the north west side of the campus. Rock fragments, gravel and shingle scattered all along the foot of the hill were collected. The good clayey soil was dug out and mud mortar was prepared. 2 ft x 1ft x 1ft wooden frames were fabricated in the workshop. All available manpower including the staff and students were harnessed for the casting of mud concrete blocks. The surface of the ground was levelled and dug out and was filled with 6 inches thick layer of rock fragments for the formation of a raft. Consolidation followed by rolling. Sun-dried mud concrete blocks 2 ft x 1ft x 1ft were used for raising the walls in place of stones or bricks. Masonry with the help of mud concrete blocks did not need specialised skills and took much lesser time. Doors and windows were fabricated in the workshop. Corrugated asbestos sheets were used for roof covering. Finally, all walls were finished with plaster in lime mortar and the floors were finished with concrete in lime mortar. Two blocks of four quarters each were raised, under the fond hope that they will serve our purpose for a year or two, till sufficient permanent living accomodation is built on the campus. The wonder of wonders is that the temporary accommodation raised in 1959 continues to be in use on the campus even after a lapse of more than fifty years.
Move to the new campus: Soon after the completion of the annual examinations of the students in the middle of May 1959, we started moving furniture, fittings and equipment from Lodha Building to the new campus. Workshop shed at the Lodha Building was dismantled and was erected with some extensions at the new campus. Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Hydraulics, Materials Testing, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Egnineering laboratories were gradually set up. Class rooms, tutorial rooms and drawing halls were provided with necessary furniture and fittings. The smaller rooms were fitted and furnished to serve as tutorial rooms, staff rooms, offices and stores. The central hall was utilised for model room and library. This was followed by clean up of the campus and levelling of the grounds.
Admissions for July 1959: The new campus provided a substantial boost to the activities of Ajmer Polytechnic. The intake of the institution was increased from 60 students for diploma in civil engineering in 1958 to 240, with 120 students for diploma in civil engineering, 60 in mechanical engineering and 60 in electrical engineering. Ajmer was always known for an environment of studies and excellent educational institutions. We sent all the information about admissions to all Secondary Schools, Higher Secondary Schools and colleges. Those days, the opportunities for professional education and advancement were extremely limited and naturally, there was tremendous rush for admissions. Almost 1000 applications were received. We prepared a merit list of 300 students, cut the stencils and sent duplicated copies of the merit list to all the 300 students. Incidentally, when the merit lists were under preparation, the city magistrate, who happened to be the son in law of the chief minister dropped in at the polytechnic accompanied by the deputy superintendent of police (city). They had particulars of some of the applicants and wanted to know, if they could somehow get admission. We pushed the deck of merit cards to them and told them that the merit list of first 300 students with details of marks obtained by them was going to all the 300 students and since every one of them knows his place, it was not possible for anybody with lesser marks to squeeze in. They looked to the deck of merit cards and the duplicated merit lists and kept shuffling them for about half an hour, before leaving quietly.