Giving Month@NLSIU - Focus Track: Infrastructure Development

The Academic Block, built in 1991, is one of the earliest structures constructed on the Nagarabhavi campus after the University shifted from the Central College premises. To many generations of students who have graduated from the University, this Academic Block epitomized the life of the law school as it has been a primary hub of academic and extra-curricular activity for decades. If students were not in their hostels, they would be in this block. And when we ask our alumni about their NLS experience, the Quad in this block finds definite mention in most of their responses!

With classrooms, examination department, faculty rooms, common room, quadrangle, canteen, Moot Court Hall, and for several years the library, and even the bank being located in the same building, nearly every activity was centred around the Academic Block. 

As this block resonates so highly with the University’s identity and its activities, NLSIU has plans to improve and enhance the Academic Block while continuing to preserve key elements of the building. 

Down Memory Lane: History of the block

Starting out on a single floor: “While the Academic Block was constructed in 1991, we shifted all our activities to the building in 1992. At the time, everything was located on the same floor - six classrooms, faculty rooms, examination department, and offices of the Registrar and the Director (now called the Vice-Chancellor). In those days, there was only one computer per faculty room and three faculty members would share a room together. Students were not allowed in the faculty corridor to prevent disturbance,” recalled Ms. Padma M, one of our earliest staff members who has been at the University since 1989.

The NLSIU library was located on the ground floor behind what is now the VC’s Office. This library continued to function in the Academic Block until 2005 when the new library building was completed. “The basement below this library housed photocopiers. All question papers for the Admissions Test, called Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) at that time, were printed here itself,” said Ms. Padma.

Generations of students have started their NLS journey in the first year classroom on the ground floor of this block, so it is quite understandably a must-visit spot during alumni reunions. 

A recent addition on the ground floor is the Pride Wall mural painted by trans-women artists of the Aravani Art Project and allies from various Bangalore colleges, on the alcove walls next to the ground floor classrooms. It stands as a vibrant physical reminder at NLS of the openness, support, and acceptance of Queer folx.

Addition of floors: 

First floor: In 1994, the construction of the first floor of the building commenced. This floor comprised two classrooms, several faculty rooms, and a department offering NLSIU’s distance education programmes, the first of which was ‘Masters of Business Laws.’ Today, the same department is called PACE. Later, the Examination Department (now the Academic Administration Department) was shifted from the ground floor to this floor. Research centres were also set-up here, the first being the Centre for Child and the Law that continues to function on this floor.  

The Subrata Roy Chowdury Memorial Hall and the Krishnappa Memorial Hall on this floor also served as library spaces until 2005. The Krishnappa Memorial Hall was converted to an examination hall in 2005, and further refurbished with fixed seating and improved infrastructure. Next door, the Subrata Roy Chowdury Hall was handily used to stock examination material for several years until it was converted into a faculty lounge in 2019. 

Second floor: In 2013, construction of the second floor of the academic block was completed with two more classrooms, additional research centres and faculty rooms. The Examination Department too operated from this floor for a number of years in the suite of administrative offices, now used by the Registrar, Finance, and Administrative Departments.

Student Life in the Academic Block

For most students, especially for those in the pre-mobile era, there were three primary fixed meeting spots: the Quad, the canteen in the basement, and the newspaper stand on the ground floor of the building. 

The Quad: The quadrangle is known for hosting almost every event in the University’s calendar. This included orientation sessions till 1999 and convocation ceremonies till 2001. Besides this, the quad has hosted inter-college fests, cultural events, parties including socials for the fests, seminars, debates prior to the elections for SBA office bearers, dance and theatrical events as well as ‘Univ Week’ held in the final week of the academic year. Another fond memory for many alums is the screening of sports matches and movies through the night in the quad. 

“As the library was functioning in the block until midnight, the quad too would be open and we would spend time in the block till it was open on many evenings. Group or committee meetings would be easiest to plan in and around the quad as everyone would be in the same building. We have even played rugby during rainy nights in the quad,” said an alumna from the batch of 2005. 

The Canteen: The canteen in the basement is also a popular hangout spot on campus as it was the only eatery on campus apart from the hostel mess for several years. It is the go-to space during class breaks for many, especially for those making up for missing out on their breakfast to make it to class on time for roll call, a common tradition here at NLS! 

Newspaper stand: Other than the library, this stand was a primary source of information, updates and the daily crossword for students and professors in a pre-wifi era. The stand continues to be in place even today on the ground floor of the block. 

Common Room: Initially located on the ground floor behind the staging area of the quad, the common room later shifted to the building’s basement and was named in memory of former NLS student Alyosha Kumar. The common room was home to the SBA library, run for several years by the Campus Development and Management Committee to provide students with their fix of literary and genre fiction. In 2012, the walls of the common room were painted with a graffiti mural and the common room soon became a prime gathering spot in the evenings for competitive rounds of board games, dumb charades, pictionary and foosball till closing time.

Planned Improvements for the Block:

While the Academic Block has had various additions over the years, no substantial renovations have occurred for over 30 years. Both office spaces and student spaces currently require upgrading. The upgrades to the Academic Block will be undertaken once the renovations in the new academic block are completed. 

“Along with the development of the New Academic Block, we plan to revitalise old spaces while maintaining their historical legacy,” said Vice-Chancellor Dr. Sudhir Krishnaswamy. 

The University is planning to add more moot courts in this block along with addition of more spaces for faculty and researchers in the building. First steps have already been undertaken to refurbish the womens’ restrooms, as well as the re-modelling and expansion of the canteen. 

The University seeks the support of the alumni to refurbish the Academic Block. While the refurbishment is expected to cost Rs 3 cr, the University is looking to raise Rs 10 lakhs from the alumni community during Giving Month.

Enhancing classrooms: 

Physical spaces greatly shape the teaching and learning environment. NLSIU is working on enhancing the existing classrooms to provide a vibrant learning environment along with improved architecture. 

“The earliest classrooms in the block followed a certain architecture of the time. The pattern was different. We want to enhance these classrooms to enable optimal levels of interaction,” said Registrar Dr. N S Nigam. These classrooms will emulate elements from the model classrooms in the New Academic Block. 

Three of the existing classrooms on the ground floor have already been upgraded to a new hybrid teaching model including some tech-related augmentation such as sound systems and new cameras. 

Expansion of the canteen:

The University is currently undertaking repairs in the canteen area in the basement, and making improvements to make it a more open and accessible space with better ventilation. 

A recent grant from former student Alyosha Kumar’s father, Commodore Arun Kumar, will aid the expansion of the canteen and integrate it with the common room.

“These improvements are being made as the canteen is not as well structured as we’d like it to be. We are also mindful of the fact that this canteen holds a lot of memories for the University’s students and staff. Hence, we do not want to disturb the existing space but make improvements to have a larger, more inviting space,” said Dr. Nigam.

With a commitment to preserving key elements of the existing campus, the University has recently undertaken several measures to upgrade campus facilities.

To accommodate a student body of 1,600+ by 2025, we have embarked on adding 210,000 square feet of residence and dining space, 22 classrooms, a sports facility, student centre and other common spaces on campus.

In this piece, we take a look at some of the infrastructural renovations and improvements on campus that are planned, completed or are currently underway at the University.

1. Refurbishment and completion of the New Academic Block

To accommodate an expanded student community, the University recently commenced refurbishing the New Academic Block. Named after NLSIU’s founder-director, the Prof. (Dr.) N. R. Madhava Menon Nyaya Vidya Bhavan block is located close to the library and will henceforth be a primary centre for academic activity.

Built in 2014, the two storey building has seven classrooms that can seat between 80 to 120 students, and two conference rooms. In November 2021, the building was outfitted for use with completion of staircases, water-proofing, installing of panels to cover open spaces, and ventilation works. Classroom and conference room renovations are scheduled to be completed by March 2022 in time for the new trimester. Spaces for NLS faculty members are also being planned in the block.

New classrooms in the block: 

The new air-conditioned classrooms will be equipped with a high-quality acoustic system, projectors, retractable screens and LED lights, along with cameras for remote learning, lecture recording and video interactions. Technological aids such as amplifiers and collar microphones are also provided in these smart classroom designs and ample plug points are being installed.

The furniture is modular and flexible and offers the opportunity for theatre-style seating for improved engagement between faculty and students. These multi-use classrooms will also serve as conference, seminar rooms and moot court halls.

2. Renovation of hostels

Making the most of an extended period of online teaching, the University undertook an extensive renovation project for its hostels this academic year considering hygiene and COVID-safety requirements.

Women’s Hostel Rooms: In the Old Annapoorna hostel, the dormitory space was converted into six new double occupancy rooms, while the hall in the New Annapoorna hostel (New Mess Block) was converted into seven new double occupancy rooms. 12 new rooms were also constructed in the Yamuna hostel. All rooms have been renovated to fit in larger windows and additional vents above the doors for improved air circulation. With this, the capacity of the women’s hostels has increased from 291 to 329 students.

Men’s Hostel Mess: The existing men’s hostel mess is being expanded to make a larger dining space while an additional mess is being constructed within the same building to cater to a larger student crowd. These expansions are projected to increase the existing capacity by 80 students approximately.

Planning for new hostel rooms in the next two years is also underway as an integral part of the Master Plan redevelopment.

3. Redevelopment of the library

The Sri Narayan Rao Melgiri Memorial National Law Library was established in 2005 with the generous assistance of Mrs. Sudha Murty. Having received a recent grant for capacity expansion and rezoning of the library, NLSIU plans to undertake several measures to redevelop and further improve the quality of the library and its resources.

At the heart of these plans is a vision to reimagine the NLS Law Library based on two key focus points: (i) improving the architectural aspects, and (ii) widening access to digital resources to enable higher student engagement.

Architectural elements: NLSIU Registrar Dr. N S Nigam said: “We plan to have different zones in the library for different kinds of engagement with knowledge. This may include a silent zone without any use of technology, an interactive knowledge sharing zone that will allow for group participation, a tech-oriented space or a digital zone focused on online resources and an outdoor zone where students can work for longer durations with their laptops and food. We envision a vibrant and open environment with more seating spaces in and around the library.”

Widening access to resources: The University has plans of adding more hardware and software resources to the library including digital scholarships and access to digital material and databases from around the globe. With a recent grant, NLSIU will offer 100 need-based digital scholarships to deserving candidates across the country to access all digital resources on an annual basis.

NLS faculty member, Dr. Arun K Thiruvengadam, who heads the library committee said: “The NLS library is undergoing an extensive review and overhaul of its existing collections. One of the steps undertaken is an inventory of both the physical and the digital collections. Faculty members have been involved in this process, with the goal of updating the library’s collections comprehensively and making them fit with the needs of all its users. Alongside, a feasibility study is underway to assess the usage statistics of the existing databases. Based on this, we will be able to gauge the requirements of the communities that use the library, and accordingly streamline the process of adding to our collections and organising the existing ones. As part of this process, we are also reshaping our inventory based on subject matter topics, so that library users will have greater ease of access to material.”

Given the diversity of scholarly outputs that NLS produces — from journals and working papers to theses and commentaries, the University will soon launch the Digital Commons, an integrated open-access platform to better manage and showcase NLSIU’s legal scholarship. The platform will be an essential tool for creating an institutional repository that ensures systematic management of publication workflows at NLSIU.

Other collections: Besides the huge collection of books and journal-bound volumes that line its racks, the law library also hosts a mix of specialist resources and eclectic personal library collections of rare volumes donated by prominent academics, trusts and foundations. Collections include those of Subrata Roy Choudhury; Guna Pai Vasanth Pai Foundation; Shri Vaidyanathan; Wadhwa and Co.; Prof. John Howard Mansfield; Namballa Krishna Chandra Rao; and CIPRA – Centre for Intellectual Property Rights and Advocacy.

In 2021, a separate collection was introduced to showcase books and volumes authored by NLS alumni across disciplines. These are housed on the second floor of the library. If you have an existing or upcoming publication you’d like to contribute, please write to library@nls.ac.in or alumnioffice@nls.ac.in.

4. Upgraded gymnasium facility

The gym, which was located in a 990 sq ft. indoor space earlier, has now been moved to a newly-developed 1,575-sq ft. open venue in the Training Centre, adjacent to the basketball and tennis courts. The venue is stocked with new equipment, well-ventilated with adequate toilets, showers and changing rooms for faculty, staff and students.

5. Proposed Student Centre

A student centre is being planned to provide a dedicated space for students to socialise and collaborate in small and large groups for academic and extra-curricular activities.

“We started by asking this question on how we want to nurture common spaces at the University outside of the academic spaces. We observed the best practices across reputed Universities and one of the elements that NLSIU wants to emulate is a student centre. This is something we are keen on setting up in the next few years.”, said Dr. N S Nigam.

6. Proposed Sports Centre

The University is exploring funding and partnerships for setting up a dedicated sports centre on campus for use by all members of the NLS community, including redevelopment and augmentation of existing facilities, for instance addition of a running track. As a starting boost to the sports facilities on campus, a cross-link fence has been installed around the football field and the rooms there are being refurbished to store sports gear.

7. Addition of eating spaces on campus

Located across the basketball court, Quess Cafe, with a seating capacity of around 60 members, offers a variety of meal and snack options. This is the first of several new catering initiatives NLSIU plans to offer. The University is also in the process of setting up a kiosk near the Library which will offer simple snack options and bakery items along with beverages.