After an over two-year-long gap, the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has begun the process of reopening its hostels by starting the renewal of hostel admission for the 2022-23 academic session.

However, no notification has been issued so far for the allotment of rooms to the first-year students, as stated in a report by PTI. The hostels were closed after the nationwide pandemic-induced lockdown in March 2020.

Last week, provosts of several hostels issued notices informing students that applications are invited from eligible residents for renewal of hostel admission for the session 2022-23. "The application completed in all respects should be submitted to their respective Provost's Office latest by 20 November 2022," the notices read, as per PTI.

Protests ensued
The notifications come after hundreds of students staged a protest on the campus, demanding the reopening of the hostel which has been lying shut for over two years. On Thursday, November 3, students staged a protest to which the varsity officials assured them that hostels will be reopened soon. The students raised slogans and held placards that read 'Reopen hostels', and 'Jamia administration wake up', among others.

"The officials came to the protest site and assured us that the process of reopening hostels has already been started. However, the allotment to the first-year students has not begun yet. We have told them we will wait till November 9 and if no notification is issued till then, we will resume the protest," said Swaleh Ansari, a third-year student, as per PTI.

On Thursday, the university issued a statement saying that Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar has given a go-ahead for the reopening of all the hostels. "All Provosts of the Hall of Boys' and Girls' Residences are, therefore, requested to start the process of renewal/new allotment in a time-bound manner so that students may use the hostel facilities after winter vacation," it added. The university has multiple hostels for girls and boys students with a maximum capacity of 4,000 students.