The Parting GenSecs: Jagan Mohan
By: Shrey, Sarthak, Avinash
As the Students' Gymkhana representatives of the year 2021-2022 end their tenure, we look back at their journey as Gymkhana core members, their ideas and vision for their respective councils, as well as their ongoing, incomplete, and complete projects. Read ahead to find out from none other than the ex-Gymkhana core members themselves - the VP, UGR, PGR, and the GenSecs of the 5 different councils. This is an 8-part series with full-length interviews of ‘The Parting GenSecs’.
JAGAN MOHAN
EX-GENERAL SECRETARY, SPORTS
Jagan Mohan, our ex-sports secretary did it all with a passion for sports and compassion for the students. From providing a link between members, players, the club executive committee, and other organizations to identifying issues regarding sports and addressing them, the sports secretary does it all. We with great delight would like to present some of the questions that we asked him regarding the responsibilities and his year-long journey as the general sports secretary of IIT Patna.
Q - Why were you interested to assume the position of Sports Secretary?What goals did you have in your mind when you stood for the elections?
Jagan M. - The first time I stood for a post in the Gymkhana was in my second year for the position of sports secretary, and I was lucky enough to get elected - that’s where it all started. At the time, there were a lot of issues regarding NSO, few students from my year had initially passed but then failed. Basically, there were a lot of shortcomings in how the whole course was being carried on. So we decided to help reframe the rules for NSO and I was involved in many of those meetings. I am hoping that the upcoming batches will be able to benefit from them.
I was also involved in the Inter IIT Sports Meet in 2019, representing the cricket team. Cricket had improved a lot during that time because of support from various people and we were able to get a brand new cricket pitch, which wasn’t there before our tenure. It was a result of year-long arguments and meetings, and a lot of coordination with the administration. It was a task that was pending for a few years and with the help of the Sports Council and VP of that year, Abhinav Gyan bhaiya, and many more people, we were finally able to accomplish this task.
So, standing for the GenSec sports came naturally to me. And then coming to the election part. Well, at that time, I remember that I had not given any big promises. One of the promises I made was to open a new common Gym, which I believe I was successful in implementing. I also had plans for our college teams to participate in outside college tournaments but due to unavoidable circumstances, that couldn’t happen this year.
Q - We came to know that you had a key role to play in the first edition of the Aarambh tournament. Could you share something about your role in Aarambh and your experience?
Jagan M. - I was only able to conduct this tournament because of the help received from the GenSec Sports of that time. He was more like a friend to me even though he was two years my senior. So I approached him with my ideas regarding the tournament. Sports tournaments used to be held every year but were not well-organized. I felt not much was done officially from the Student Gymkhana’s side. So what I did then was that we tried to introduce uniformity in the whole process and approached the Sports Council about it. We initially proposed a budget and we were able to convince the whole council to agree to our demands. The budget was then proposed to the Chairman of Sports, and after going through it, he said that it wouldn’t be easy to arrange that amount. We then had to come up with another budget plan which was much less where we arranged everything with the minimal expenses possible. I remember there were no trophies distributed at that time, but there were refreshments, so somehow we did start it. The budget now will probably increase every year so I hope that you guys will take Aarambh to another level.
Q: Since the election results are out and the new secretaries have taken their oaths, what advice do you have for them and what changes would you want them to work on?
Jagan M. - I feel that the infrastructure at our college has been developing very well in the past few years. When we arrived at the campus (in our first year), the infrastructure, at least in the case of cricket, was far below my expectations. We did not even have a proper cricket pitch to practice and there were no flood lights on the football ground. So it was completely different, whereas now the grounds have been properly made and everything has developed to a great extent. Now it’s upon the students to make full use of it. I would suggest the new GenSec make sure that the practice sessions are arranged in a proper manner so that our college can perform well at the Inter IIT Meet and also at other competitions. It’s high time IIT Patna gets some of those medals home!
You’ve reached the end of this interview and the end of this series! Thank you for reading the 8th part of the 8 part series - The Parting GenSecs. If you found this article interesting, do like the article and share it with your peers.