Bengaluru: To help girl students from Northeastern states, Bangalore University (BU) is building a hostel on the Jnanabharathi campus that is nearing completion. The hostel is coming up on a 5.5 acre plot next to the accommodation block and the construction work has reached final stages.
The hostel will house undergraduate and postgraduate students and research scholars from the Northeast. With its opening scheduled for December, BU will be the first university in the state to offer an exclusive hostel for girl students from the region.
The North Eastern Council (NEC) had approached BU officials and requested for land on the Jnanabharathi campus to build the hostel after several incidents of NE students being attacked were reported. The NEC, which is funding the project, is spending Rs 13.6 crore on the hostel, which will have 104 rooms. Each room will be shared by three students.
BU Vice-Chancellor Dr K.R. Venugopal said that the hostel will be open to North-eastern students pursuing various courses at the university and its affiliated colleges. “CCTV cameras will be installed at the hostel, which would also have an automated kitchen. Students can enjoy their favourite cuisine during their stay at the hostel,” he said.
A postgraduate student from Guwahati said, “We had been demanding a hostel for a long time as finding a safe and secure place in the city was always a challenge. The rents are exorbitant and also there have been many incidents targeting us.”
Officials said that 25% of the rooms will be allotted to other students. “While priority will be given to students from BU, rooms will also be allotted to students from Bengaluru Central University (BCU) and Bengaluru North University (BNU) only if there are vacancies in the hostel which can hold up to 400 students at a time,” they said.
