Physical facilities: The main building of the polytechnic, which accommodated classrooms, drawing halls, civil engineering and electrical engineering laboratories, library, staff rooms and other associated facilities had been completed and was in use. A separate block of mechanical engineering workshops and mechanical engineering laboratories had also been completed and was in use. Two hostels with accommodation for ninety students each, along with a common dining hall and other facilities had also been completed and were occupied. Two warden’s quarters had also been completed and were in use by the wardens. In the meantime, the intake of students had increased and public works department had already commenced the construction of two more hostels with accommodation for ninety students each. Public works department had also taken up the construction of two more warden’s quarters, two residential units for physical training instructors and twenty residential units for low paid staff of the polytechnic.
Food farm: During early sixties the residential areas lying on the west side of the polytechnic lands were still under the process of development. Proper drainage was not available and some of the drains were spilling into polytechnic lands. That led to the development of about twenty acres of land lying on the south of the main building into a food farm. The land was parcelled out in small units of a bigha ( about half an acre ) each. The land was cleared, levelled and ploughed through tractors. All members of the low paid staff residing in the staff quarters of the polytechnic were provided the option to pick up one of the plots. While, ploughing, sowing and harvesting was arranged by the institution, the members of the staff and their families were entrusted to look after the day to day care and growth of the plants and in return they were allowed to take home, total produce from the plot allotted to them. The remaining plots were utilized by the institution for growing seasonal vegetables for the benefit of students living in the hostels and for other members of the staff and day scholars. After the end of the first season, all members of the low paid resident staff of the institution found that they had sufficient food grains to meet the requirements of the family for the season, supplemented by the daily availability of seasonal vegetables. The students living in the hotels were happy to get fresh vegetables in their messes every day, while the day scholars and members of the staff living outside the campus were seen carrying vegetables of their choice to their homes in the evenings. The arrangement continued for some years.
Co-operative Society: Most of the low paid staff of the polytechnic used to borrow some money from petty lenders for meeting the day to day necessities of life. The rates of interest were extremely high. Normally the borrower would take rupees ten as loan and seemed happy to pay rupees eleven at the end of the month, without realizing that the rate of interest worked out to 120 % per annum. Since, the unpaid amounts of loans and interest were compounded monthly with the amounts of fresh loans, even petty loans of Rs ten to fifty, ballooned into big sums and in spite of regular payments, there was no chance for clearing the loans. In the process, the ornaments and other valuables of the family used to be mortgaged and the borrower was totally at the mercy of the lender. Jodhpur Polytechnic Consumers Cooperative Society was registered with the intention to provide some succour to the low paid staff of the polytechnic and to free them from the clutches of the lenders. As such, lenders of every individual member of the staff were contacted and were personally directed to furnish details of outstanding loans, due from members of our staff. The figures were startling: A loan of Rs 10 had become Rs 100 in spite of regular monthly payments. Similarly a loan of Rs 50 had become more than Rs 500 and so on. We provided the option to the lenders for reasonable, one time settlement of the loans. And, gradually, the co-operative society settled all outstanding loans of the staff and freed them from the vicious game played by the lenders.
Subsequently, the co-operative society initiated the process of providing financial assistance to the members of the staff to enable them to get involved in productive activities for supplementing their income, leading to better living conditions and economic stability. In some cases, the co-operative society provided financial support even to senior members of the teaching staff, as and when the payment of their salaries was delayed due to delays in issue of pay slips by the accountant general.
Fair price shop: A cooperative fair price shop was soon registered with the district supply administration. The shop facilitated the timely availability of all items of rationed food like wheat, rice and sugar to the students living in the hostels as also to the members of the staff living on the campus. The shop ensured that the families of members of the low paid staff of the polytechnic had sufficient food for the month, without getting involved in nasty loans from the local lenders.
Sardar Samand Wheat: Sardar Samand Farm was a part of the personal property of Maharaja of Jodhpur. The wheat grown by the farm was of high grade quality and was mostly used as seed by the cultivators and was sought after at a premium, by almost everybody in the town. We were happy to get into the list of preferred customers and got allotments of four hundred quintals of wheat, during the harvesting season for the use of members of the staff and students living in the hostels. The cost of Sardar Samand wheat in those days was Rs 80 per quintal and the staff and students were happy to get it at their door.
Co-operative Canteen: A cooperative canteen was a pressing need of the institution for the supply of tea, milk and common snacks and other food items, for the benefit of students and members of the staff. Those were the days, when groceries like maida, suji and sugar were rationed and we had to obtain the supplies against special permits issued by the district supply officer. The cooperative canteen was very popular with the staff and students as it provided nutritive food to them at reasonable prices.
Co-operative Poultry: Poultry was next in the chain. Animal husbandry department of the state government was promoting the establishment of poultry farms in a big way with all types of subsidies and supply of high grade chicks. At the time of shifting the classes from temporary accommodation, to the campus in November 1961, we had dismantled two sheds 25 ft x 30 ft each and had shifted them to the campus. This accommodation was readily available for the development of a poultry farm with minor modifications. For a beginning, we opted for 400 high grade Rani Shaver chicks, imported by animal husbandry department of the state government, from Canada. The department assured full support to us in running the poultry and also provided an assurance to collect surplus eggs for sale through their counter. Poultry turned out to be a useful addition to the popular activities of the co-operative society. As the chicks grew into chickens, we were collecting about 300 eggs a day. The high grade eggs were readily picked up by the staff and students and the surplus was sent daily to the animal husbandry department for sale from their counters.
Refreshment for games and sports: There were about one thousand students on rolls of the polytechnic and almost eight hundred students could be seen daily on the grounds. We had a feeling that after all the perspiring activities, the students scattered over the sprawling sports complex, needed substantial nutritive refreshment. We thought about serving 250 grams of hot milk and one fresh fruit to every student in the evening, immediately after the close of the games and sports activities. This led to the procurement of 250 kilograms of milk and basketful supplies of fresh fruits every day. The challenge was to serve hot milk to all the students in one of the halls in the main building without any formalities and waiting time. Any type of formalities or queuing up by the students for the milk was expected to negate the very spirit of the whole exercise. Normally, none of the students took more than fifteen minutes in walking from the sports complex to the milk room and picking up the glass of hot milk and the piece of fresh fruit. That served as a booster for most of our outdoor activities.