Students living in campus hostels say unwilling authorities, limited means define lockdown

Living in a lockdown is challenging on many levels, but students in hostels allege college administrations have only made it harder.

Representational image | PTI

New Delhi: Low supply of essentials, uncooperative administration, limited access to essential groceries and uncertainty amid a pandemic — this is what students living in college hostels claim they are facing during the lockdown.

At Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), about 600 of the approximately 5,000 resident students are living on campus, according to JNU Students’ Union counsellor Apeksha Priyadarshini.

The university had directed students to leave on 19 March but faced resistance from the student unions.

“The authorities wouldn’t have relented if the JNUSU and Teacher’s Association hadn’t put pressure on authorities to let students stay or keep the mess functional,” Priyadarshini said.

A single hostel now caters to students from three-four hostels and students eat in shifts to maintain social distancing.

In Banaras Hindu University, a second-year Geography student Aniket Kumar says students have been living “at their own risk”. The students are allowed to step out between 6 AM and 12 PM while a health centre is open 24×7.

But food has becomes a matter of cooking basic meals of lentils and rice on heaters inside their rooms, Kumar said.

However, the university’s proctor O.P. Rai said a restaurant, Annapurna Bhojanalaya, is open inside the campus for students. According to him, “around 180 of the 10,000 hostel students are on campus.”

Chaos over leaving

Many universities across the country decided to send hostel students home before the nationwide lockdown was implemented 25 March. However, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had issued an advisory on 21 March, directing institutions to let students stay.

“When we cited the MHRD advisory dated 21st to (hostel) authorities, they rejected our requests to stay back, citing university notice to vacate the hostel which had come out on 19 March,” said Amisha Nanda, a first-year law student at Ambedkar Gandhi Students’ House for Women in New Delhi.

MHRD Joint Secretary Chandra Shekhar Kumar said the ministry was closely following the developments and will “look into the possibility of disciplinary actions” against such hostels, but only after ascertaining all facts once the lockdown ends.

According to Pinjra Tod, a feminist student group, a woman student of JNU’s Sabarmati Hostel faced a “human chain” of security personnel who didn’t allow her inside and insinuated she might be infected with coronavirus. In a Facebook post, it further alleged that despite a basic health check-up and clearance from doctors, the student was still harassed by guards trying to force her off campus.

Students at Jamia’s Hazrat Mahal Girls’ Hostel alleged they were given a two-hour notice to vacate the hostel on 22 March.

“The wardens threatened them with shutting down the mess if the students didn’t leave,” said a student at the university who didn’t want to be named.

However, hostel proctor Baran Farooqi said “no such thing happened”, and added, “We’ve always taken care of our students and continue to provide them with amenities.”