Please check the Active Fresher's Selections Page for an incomplete list of selections/intro seminars. This might be incomplete!

Welcome to LBS

Soooooo, this is 99% going to be LBS Hall!

Don't Die!

I have attached a table of contents below:

Shops & Restaurants within LBS

Toiletry/Laundry within LBS

Laundry/Washing Clothes

Toiletry & cleaning Products

Location

This is where LBS hall entrance is located. Please use google maps, or ask for directions to anyone inside. Ladies aren't allowed inside, so your mom won't likely be allowed, but there are exceptions. Please go to the office, at A-block, for getting your hall room.

Room Allocation

This is the process of getting your room alloted:

[Optional] You and two others can choose to have a room together, and in that case, do these steps together, while informing the office members you want a room together. If not, you can just get roommates randomly allotted to you too.
If you're PWD, check if LBS can accommodate your disability. If it can't, they will change your hall to one that can.
Go to hall office. It's in the ground floor of A Block, and is right next to the main entrance. Ask for directions if needed.
There, you might have to wait in queue to get a form to fill out. Once you do, fill out the Room Allocation form. Also have 4-5 Passport size Photos (& glue) to stick in the form.
Go back to the office with the form(s), and required docs (likely just allotment letter, payment reciept, id proof), along with your roommates (if there are any).
They will verify the docs, and assign you a room along with its key (IMO the best rooms are B/C block 2nd floor but it's unlikely you'll have a choice).
You will also receive an empty medical booklet, Bonafide Certificate, and mess card. Fill them out & have them verified within a week or two in case you ever need them (They will do it later, but the scolding isn't worth it).
Go to your room, dump everything, meet roommate, and voila!

Your room

Each room is a triple occupancy, i.e. 3 people in one. Based on some very shitty memory & questionable assumptions, each room is about 160-200 sqft, and is pretty much the same size everywhere.

Each room also has a balcony facing towards some open space, and is around 20sqft iirc.

There are effectively 3 corners a person could take, with two facing outside, and one facing the corridor (So that window is often boarded up) but also having an extra plugpoint. Which corner is taken is upto the roommates to decide themselves.

So what do you get per person?

Well, each person gets one bed (w/o mattress), one desk (variety of types), one chair (wooden), and a cupboard with some space above and below it.
Each person also gets the following fixtures: one ceiling fan, one tubelight, two plug points, one ethernet port, and a (set of) windows.

Rando Info

You're allowed to pretty much make any cosmetic modification (posters drawing, lights, etc), but permanent modifications are generally frowned upon (stuff like breaking shit lol).
Technically not even a kettle is allowed in the room, but as long as it's below 1000W, you should be fine with using it. People have used electric stoves of low wattage, so just make sure you turn off everything & disconnect it when leaving the room.
There's also a significant ant problem, especially in the hotter days (March - September), so having an ant repellent like chalk is a necessity. Not having one can result in extreme damage, including but not limited to your laptop charger dying because of some extremely suicidal ants (Happened to me, warranty saved me luckily). Keeping food in anything but airtight containers is also not recommended for this reason.
Deep cleaning the room after coming is also a recommendation, because most rooms havent been cleaned properly for years. Scrubbers (metal), detergent, wiper, broom, and a cloth are my recos. Will prolly take like 3 hrs with all 3 people.
Having a personal fan will be a godsend for some of you, depending on your reaction to humidity. Oh, it's extremely humid from April to September, extremely cold from November to February, and kinda okay for 15 days in March & October.
A-block will be predominantly Seniors (+3/4), since LBS being allottted to freshers is a pretty new thing.

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Pictures in order: All are of my room/corner. First one is first day, Next 4 are sometime in November, Last two are in April.

LBS Structure/Map

LBS, or Lal Bahadur Shastri Hall of Residence consists of 4 floors (5 if you include ground floor), spread across 4 main blocks (A, B, C, D), and 5 Interconnecting blocks (AA, AB, BC, CD, DD) which connect between two main blocks.

A wing is one corridor of rooms. Each main block has two wings (1-12 on one end, 13-24 on other end), and each inter-connecting block has one wing. Each wing has 8-12 rooms depending on wing. Each wing has two restrooms.

The room number is structured like this:

A107 : A block, Ground floor, 7th room (first end)

B423 : B Block, 3rd floor, 23rd room (other end)

CD507: CD Interconnecting block, 4th floor, 7th room

DD210: DD interconnecting block, 1st floor, 10th room

Most of the amenities: office, shops, and mess are in the ground floor, with the first floor mess being the only exception.

Other than the interconnecting blocks, the empty spaces between main blocks is also used for other purposes:

The space between A block & compound is seating on one side, and cycle stand on the other side.
The space between A & B block is a football field on one side, and a volleyball court on the other.
The space b/w B & C block is a collection of badminton courts on one side, and a cricket pitch on the other.
B/w C & D block is a basketball court on one side, and a pool (NEVER SWIM) on the other side.
Behind D block is another cycle stand and some greenery.

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Picture in order: First one is a rough LBS map withe the entrance being on the bottom right corner. Second one shows the path for getting to LBS office from compund entrance.

Mess

LBS hall has two messes, first floor & ground floor mess. Technically, ground floor mess is for BC, C, CD, D & DD block students; while first floor mess is for AA-B block students; but it's not regularly enforced.

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There is no separate Veg & Non-veg messes. When non-veg is served (~4 days a week), vegetarian will be one side of the mess, and non-veg will be the other side of the mess.

There are no separate plates, and you aren't allowed to take plates without permission & valid reason like sickness.

For special occasions, stuff like Ramadan, special accommodations are available, but you gotta talk to the workers/office in regards to this.

The mess workers are a third-party, and not part IITKGP directly, which is often the reason stated for the comparatively lower quality of food here, but I'm not sure if this is the cause.

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These are the timings:

Breakfast 7:00 - 9:00 AM
Lunch 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Snacks 4:30 - 6:00 PM
Dinner 7:00 - 9:00 PM5

The mess will be open for another half an hour after closing time, but the food might get over, so get there during these times to be safe. Sunday mess opening might be delayed by half an hour.

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The menu of each month will be posted on notice boards outside/in the messes. Some months might not have their menus changed.

Do note anything beyond this is subject to change monthly based on hall meetings.

Breakfast will be like this: Base dish of <Bread + Jam/Butter> OR <Cornflakes + Milk> OR <Daily Indian Dish> with one banana, egg, and some milk.
Anything more than this will be charged (& can be paid with UPI), but the base dish itself is usually free (i.e. more bread, cornflakes, etc.). However being polite & friends has worked wonders for me.
Daily Indian Dish is usually something like Parotha, Idly, Dosa, Chole Bathure, Poha, etc.

Lunch is usually this combination:

Rice (2 varieties of eating rice, not basmati)
Chapathi (made by machine so ehh)
Dal (Changes daily)
"Sambhar" (For rice, changes daily. Can be potentially traumatizing to Southies when a sambhar has the texture of dal sambhar, but the taste of Rasam)
Side Dish (Changes Daily)

Side dish is usually some vegetable curry (Too much Potatoes though), and on certain days paneer/fish.
On certain days (3-4 days a week), paneer will be served as the veg dish and a fish/egg curry as non-veg dish. You can NOT take both.

Once/Twice a week, only biriyani/pulao will be available with paneer/chicken instead of the above.

Dinner will be pretty much the same combo as lunch, but with slight changes:

Once or Twice a week, A sweet (Gulab Jamun/Ice Smth/Rasugulla/Rasamalai) will also be given.
Multiple days will also have a complete change, like only poori & aloo or Khichidi or channa & custard, etc.

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Special/Grand Dinners : Every month or two, a special dinner is organized by the hall. This either uses the same providers, or calls another catering service. The food will be of higher quality, generally more tasty, and more elaborate. You will need to collect a token from hall or mess office beforehand to be allowed inside.

DO NOTE: You might be required to pay extra amount (upto 1-2k) for these grand dinners. We were not aware about this charge when we had our grand dinners initially. Please talk to your mess-representative about this asap to know whether you'll be charged or not, and if it is mandatory.

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Ground Floor Mess pictured below. First floor is similar.

Shops & Restaurants within LBS

General Store: Ground floor of AB block. Open from 10AM to 12PM all days (with certain exceptions). Has most snacks, daily care, grocery, instant food, and other day-to-day requirements. Items sold at MRP. Most items (Except snacks) are cheaper at TechM, and certain items might not be available.

Stationary Shop: Ground floor of AB block, next to general store. Open from 9:30-1:30 PM, 5:00-9:00 PM most days. Has most stationaries, most kgp requirements (Except certain books), printing capabilities (poster, color, Xerox). Costlier than TechM shops, but of course, convenient. On exam days, opens at 8-8:30 incase people forgot to take printout of hall ticket.

Nescafe Shop: Aka Nescy, next to General Store. Open from 11:00AM to 2:00AM (two different shifts). Has okay food and drinks. Food includes maggi (& its varieties), puffs, burgers, omelettes, etc. Drinks include hot coffee & tea, and cold tea, coffee, etc.
People have complained that its food has caused food poisoning, though I never got sick from there (despite eating a lot). Try and test at your own risk.

Juice Shop: Ground floor of CD Block. Open from 11:00AM to 3:00AM. Has a variety of juices and shakes, and many of my friends swear by it. Okayly priced.

Milk Shop: Backside (outside of DD block) entrance. Open from like 7:00PM to 3:00AM. Also has maggi, but alongside, has some variety of icecreams & milks (hence the name). It calls itself a South Indian corner with its dosas and uthappam and biriyani and the like, and while they are edible, I don't like them lol. Do try it.

Night Canteen: Outside the LBS building, near LBS compound entrance. Open from 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM. Has a variety of dishes, mostly fastfood (indian) and stuff like maggi. Heard rumors of food poisoning here too, so be careful when you try.

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Pictures in order: Nescy, Nescy from a diff angle, View from Night Canteen when Raining, Out of focus pic of General Store

Toiletry/Laundry within LBS

Laundry/Washing Clothes

There are 4 diff ways:

Use the washing machines. There is one located in every floor of every single letter block (so 16 in total), but good luck finding one that's free and working. On an average, 4-6 machines only work at any given time, but it might change based on repairs. You might also need to use something like scissors in place of knobs lol. You can buy detergent from TechM or general store.
Wash by Hand. This is what I did for half my clothes, and takes about an hr, which is honestly faster than machines given the rarity of a free working one. I wouldnt personally wash them on the floor of a boys washroom, instead just rinsing like a washing machine, but you do you. You will have to use a dryer, especially between March and October, or it will take days to dry.
Give it to laundry man. A couple laundry men come through LBS every few days, and they are pretty decent & reliable. It's dried on grass and stuff, but I have used them for a year with mostly no issues. Do check with friends for best guy to give to. There was the one time when my one of my pants was pulled down by a cow (as said by the laundrywala), but I recieved it a few days delayed with no issues. The cost should be between 10-15 rs per piece, and no more.
Give it to the laundry shop. There are a couple shops for laundry throughout the campus, mostly in TechM. From what I have heard, they are pretty good, and do take personal requests. They also have dry cleaning options for stuff like suits.

Drying the clothes is usually done with ropes in the balcony or inside the room too. You could also buying a drying stand (those metallic ones with multiple lines).

Toiletry & cleaning Products

Most soaps, face washes, oils and the like can be bought downstairs at the general store at MRP. For more elaborate & possibly cheaper products, Blinkit or TechM is recommended.

A broom and wiper would be recommended for your room. If possible, coordinate with your roommates and deep clean the room (including upper windows), as many rooms haven't been deepcleaned since like COVID.

Other products can also be bought at general store.

Restrooms

Well, you're gonna hate it. Accept that and come, and it will be easier to handle. Do note that the pics are of one of the worst restrooms of LBS, and yours will likely be better. Even if it isn't, you can go to a different restroom.

Each wing (Block-floor combo, usually 10-12 rooms) comes with 2 restrooms, coming to about 1 restroom per 15-18 kids.

Each restroom consists of the following (with slight variations in some):

3 bathrooms (with showerheads and taps)
3 Indian Style toilets
1 western style toilet
3 Urinals
3 wash basins with mirrors.
1 geyser/water heater which is switched on in winter, though some geysers were available year around.

There is like a 10-20% chance there will be some issue with each of these (door not closing properly, water leaking, tap broken, etc.). The geyser however only worked in every other bathroom, from like October to April. It might be different for you.
Complaining about this issue at the hall manager should usually get them fixed within a few weeks.

The restrooms are wiped like every 1-2 days (i.e. with a mop). They are cleaned with cleaning agents every week, but by the end of sem, except this to slow down to like 2 weeks. Please see pics for more info.

The lights are autosensors and work pretty well somehow, so you don't have to worry about that. Water issues might happen during heavy intense use, like holi & other festivals.

The water is heavily chlorinated to prevent risk of infections, which has the added benefit of hair loss (more manly! jk).

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Pictures in order: Washing Machine & Water dispenser, Washing Machine, Urinals, Wash Basins, Washroom Entrance, Broken Entrance to a toilet, Bathroom

Other Amenities

Cycle Stands & Shops

There are 3 different stands in LBS, for different blocks, but this has been hard to maintain.

Near compound entrance, only for AA & A block, but others take it too.
To the left of AA block, mainly for A-BC block, but others take it too. There is also a cycle shop here where you can register your cycles for easier management if/when stolen. Plus some maintenance is free for the entire year, with other services costing very little.
Behind, near the milk shop/DD entrance, is the third stand. Mainly for C-DD block, but many from here park in other two stands, so less crowded. Another cycle shop is also here with similar facilities.

Many old cycles are left rotting.

Water

Water dispensers are supposed to be present next to every washing machine, but their quality changes from place to place. Do check in

"Library"

There is a common library at B-block ground-floor, about 300 sqft with some books relevant for first year. Usually open during the day, during exam-week open 24x7. In the april months, AC will be turned on, hence extremely crowder (20+ ppl), but honestly worth it. That AC is the single most indestructible thing in LBS.

Gym

Next to library, pretty decent with its selection of tools and machines. Open from like 4-11pm, but you might be able to get keys if you know the right senior. Semi crowded at times (10-15 ppl) since people outside of LBS come too, given it's much harder to get into gymkhana gym at a good time.

Common Rooms

Mostly in A-block, these are mostly locked, with certain rooms like sports/tech room open if you know the right seniors or part of a relevant team/group.

Strong rooms

These are your storage rooms for your items during vacations. The common rooms will be first converted into strongrooms about 2 weeks before sem end, and then the 1st floor mess about a week before last exam.

Music room

Near Juice shop, has a variety of instruments, but you need to be part of some relevant group for access or as usual know the right people.

Sports Fields

A general field, volleyball court, basketball court, couple badminton courts, a cricket pitch and a couple indoor Table tennis tables are available first come first serve.

Big Circle thingy at entrance

This thing just completed construction in spring 2025, and from what I have been able to ascertain, it's supposed to be another place for restaurants/common room/waiting room. But you'll be the first batch to figure it out, so noice!

Security

There is a security guard office at entrance, which has atleast 2 guards at any given time. Inform them in case of any emergencies/issues. Many guards also patrol at night to prevent stuff like ragging.

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Pictures in Order: A-Block Cycle Stand, General Ground, Badminton Courts, Pool to not swim in, Cricket in General ground, Volleyball Court & another pool not to swim in.