Colleges set for reopening; students unable to get hostels on campuses

Hyderabad: Allocation of hostel space for students in colleges and universities is now an uphill task for managements. Two weeks ago, the government had advised officials to ensure hostel facilities for poor/tribal/BC/minority students. However, government-sector college hostels and university campuses have not got required attention.

With three days left for the reopening of colleges in the state, students arriving in the city from outstations are struggling to find accommodation. Several students from Osmania University, JNTU and Nizam College, among others, are forced to check into private facilities for stay. They were told that hostels are unavailable for six months in some cases for all students; and in other cases available only for final year students.

A second-year BA student in Nizam College, who came from Karimnagar, was told by the warden that the hostel was available only for third-year students, and not for first and second-year students. "Most of us come from middle class or ordinary families. It is now compulsory for us to attend classes as the government will not allow online classes for higher education institutes beyond March," he said.

Another student at Osmania University pursuing PhD in Genetics, final year, said, "I managed to get an accommodation with two other girls near the university. We were told the hostels at the campus will not be open for the next six months. If PG students are called in for exams, they'll need a place to stay."

A student of civil engineering at Malla Reddy College said he will be paying an extra Ea 3,500 per month for a private hostel facility near the college in view of the college refusing to provide accommodation now.

Hundreds of students getting back to colleges after the long dry spell induced by Covid-19 are experiencing the same difficulty. Colleges are feeling the heat also as rooms can no longer be offered on a sharing basis. The social distancing norms do not allow sharing.

However, TSCHE chairman Prof. T Papi Reddy said all colleges and universities have been directed to provide hostels to students. "Eventually all colleges and universities will have operational hostels. The process will be completed in the next few days," he said.