Hostel accommodation and mess facility at subsidised rates for students in state universities may soon become a thing of the past. The state government is planning to allow cash-starved universities to privatise hostels and messes. The process has been initiated on a pilot basis at the Kakatiya University recently, where tenders have been called for the purpose. The government plans to extend the same to other varsities to cut costs. Officials in the higher education department are tight-lipped over the issue fearing the wrath of student organisations.
At present, state universities provide free hostel accommodation to students charging them Rs 1,500 per month as mess charges. Most students refuse to pay this amount citing delay in the release of scholarships by the government. They want the mess charge to be adjusted in the scholarship amount. The arrears have thus been mounting each month and universities can no longer afford to run hostels and messes. In addition, illegal boarders occupy the hostels and avail the mess facility, making it even more difficult for universities to balance their budgets.
For instance, the girls’ hostels on the Osmania University campus, which can accommodate 2,000 students, has more than 4,000 inmates, half of whom are non-boarders. All the hostels at OU put together can accommodate 7,000 students but nearly 13,000 students are currently staying there. OU authorities are forced to take the help of the police to get the students to vacate their rooms every vacation. Strong and active students unions seem to dictate terms even when these are unreasonable and unfair.
The Kakatiya University hostels, with a capacity to house 2,500 students, are accommodating at least twice that number. Genuine boarders have been complaining to the authorities that the illegals have forced their way into their rooms claiming they are “seniors”. They have been threatened if they complain. Mess authorities too find it difficult to cope and are also threatened by the illegal boarders. They are forced to “dilute” the food they serve to meet the additional demand.
The vice-chancellors are of the view that the privatisation of hostels and messes is the solution to these problems as the private contractors will be able to adopt more stringent measures to recover their investment.