Working Group, AUSG Introduce Interim Main Gate Infraction Matrix

On Saturday, November 15th, 2025, the Ashoka University Student Government (AUSG) sent an email to the student body announcing changes to the Main Gate Infraction policy and a new Main Gate Infraction (MGI) Interim Regime while these changes are implemented. These changes were proposed by the AUSG Residence Life Working Group and accepted by the Dean of Student Affairs (DSA) following extensive discussion with the student body during an Open Meeting conducted by the Working Group on Wednesday, November 5th.

As per the Residence Life Policies 2025, students on Blanket Permission must enter campus by 12:00 midnight. Failure to do so the first two times results in a warning letter from the Office of Student Affairs, after which, on the third strike, the student's ID card is blocked for a week. Following this, the cycle of counting recommences. The new system involves an Hour Bank, which will be allocated to each student on a monthly or semester-wise basis; students can return to campus post 12:00 midnight in accordance with the hours remaining in their Hour Bank. 

Once the Hour Bank elapses, a matrix of escalation begins with each infraction. The escalations proposed involve reduced access time—from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.—for a week after the first infraction, and Civic Responsibility Hours (CRH) or Extra Learning Hours (ELH) after the second infraction. While the student is completing the CRH or ELH allotted to them, their access time will be reduced from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

CRH may involve activities such as shadowing a warden, manning Housekeeping and ResLife helplines, helping in the mailroom, a long-term project with the Security Team or contributing to the Mess Committee. ELH require that students choose one Foundation Course (FC) that can be accommodated in their timetable and attend its classes for two weeks. They will have to compulsorily mark physical attendance with the Teaching Fellow and submit a reflection to the Office of Student Life (OSL) at the end of each week. 

The AUSG email confirmed that the administration has approved the Hour Bank system, and details regarding its final iteration will be provided soon. The system will be implemented starting from the Spring ‘26 semester, as it requires certain “software changes.” While these changes are in process, the DSA and Working Group have drafted an interim strike matrix in a meeting on Friday, November 7th, which was put into place on Thursday, November 13th. 

The consensus among the DSA, AUSG and Working Group is that “blocking QR codes is a very harsh punishment and must be reserved only as a last resort.” Thus, the interim matrix of escalation proposes: 

Strike 1	Strike 2	Strike 3	Strike 4	Strike 5
Meeting with the Warden recorded over email	Meeting with the Director/ Deputy Director	Warning Letter from the Registrar’s Office* * Warning Letter mentions: Strike 3 of the Main Gate Infraction. Final Warning, after which further action will be taken. CC’ed to parents.	5 hours of a wellness activity with a University Instructor** and the cycle of count will start again ** Students may pick one of the following activities: Zumba, Gym, Squash, Yoga, or Shooting. Log a total of 5 hours with the Instructor during their ‘open hours’, spread over one/two weeks.	Failure to finish Wellness activity/ MG Violation while Strike 4 is still active: ID Card blocked for 2 days, and the cycle restarts

Further details about the Working Group (WG) were provided during the Open Meeting held on Wednesday, November 5th. Facilitated by the AUSG, it has been constituted to rework the new Residence Life, NOC and CADI policies. A team of 21 members, their work involves researching policy initiatives from universities around the world to tailor solutions for the specific challenges at Ashoka. The WG enters into negotiations with the DSA and Head of Residence Life to finally implement these alternative solutions. 

Currently, the team is composed of 17 voluntary Undergraduate students, a lawyer currently employed at Ashoka, 1 Edict reporter, 2 Undergraduate (UG) Council members, the Minister of Community Well-being and the Minister of Campus Life. Tripura Chamy (UG ‘25) has been elected as Chairperson of the WG and Ayush Gurule (UG ‘25) as Deputy Chairperson. Their objectives are to “re-work policy provisions to reflect student interest”, “address the anxieties of the administration,” and ensure a balance between students and admin interests as they re-work policies and provide a model of “sustained and bi-partisan student consultation” at Ashoka. 

The WG presented the Hour Bank alternative to the student body, laying out their priorities and rationale behind the approach. Cultivating a responsible drinking culture, ensuring the safety and security of students and reducing administrative load (the number of MGI’s) are their topmost priorities. Their approach also involves focusing less on punishing students but promoting healthy habit formation as a method of maintaining discipline. 

After their presentation, the floor was opened to questions, suggestions and reflections from the student body. Students raised concerns about the shame surrounding administrative tasks listed in CRH and the hindrance it might pose to security, housekeeping and administrative staff. The WG acknowledged that it was not a perfect solution and noted that they are still in discussion with the DSA’s team to determine the feasibility of this option. 

A question was raised concerning the livelihood of those living in the area surrounding Ashoka and the weekly disturbance caused by students. These issues are, however, not currently under negotiation through the WG. However, the merit of the question was taken into consideration as it brought up broader issues related to drinking culture outside Ashoka, which the WG is trying to address with the administration. 

A student also inquired if different batches at Ashoka have been asked about their opinion regarding MGI and its impact, or if a survey could be conducted to understand the underlying causes of MGI. The WG responded that once the new policy has been drafted, they will be holding focus group sessions with students across batches. These will be held to test the alternative ResLife policies as well. 

Lastly, a student raised a query about the lawyer who is part of the WG. Chamy responded that since WG positions are not public-facing roles, they are not obligated to share the names of the members. She mentioned that the lawyer was previously a student at Ashoka. 

(Edited by Anamta Husain)