Visakhapatnam: As a result of the lack of basic facilities at the Andhra University Ladies Hostel in Maharanipeta, students have been suffering right from the beginning of this academic year.
University officials have been flooded with complaints from hostelites and student unions.
The hostel is packed with 1,600 students although its maximum is 1,000-bed capacity. More than 300 students are in the reserved list waiting for admission. There will be a demand from around 100 students in the coming days after the counselling for MBA.
The parents of out-station students, who have not got the hostel facility, get recommendations from politicians to get a seat. The university hostel is not only affordable for them, it is also considered as safe and secure for the students.
In the past two decades, there was a tremendous growth in the number of women students coming from rural areas to study postgraduation courses at AU. However, the hostel premises remained the same without any further development.
AU Ladies Hostel chief warden Prof. P. Suneetha said that the university had earlier provided accommodation to 200 students in Pragati Charitable Trust hostel. However, its bed capacity is 150 only.
In both these hostels, the students are living in a congested environment.
Moreover, there is no proper drinking water and other basic amenities at the hostels. According to the students, they were depending on water tankers for regular water needs. University bus transportation was also irregular. There were no drivers for six buses.
On behalf of students, YSR Congress Student Union state general secretary Kantharao B urged the university to accommodate them in an alternative building immediately. He further asked that a new building be constructed with the funds from Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan.
Two years ago, the AU had decided to build the new ladies hostel with a capacity of 500 beds. But, the works have not yet started. When asked, the varsity management citied the issue of sand scarcity in the city and other reasons.
