The work on three new hostels for students belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities is underway in Dakshina Kannada and the facilities are expected to be ready by this September.
Hemalatha S, deputy director, Social Welfare department, shared that the new hostels will accommodate 500 students. "Each hostel project costs Rs 6.50 crore. A new hostel is under construction at Kadri with a capacity of 200 for boys and the work is expected to be completed by this September. Two other hostel buildings which are coming up in Belthangady and Bantwal with a capacity of 150 each girl students are expected to be ready by July this year. The applicants are required to live at-least 100 kilometres distance from their permanent residence to avail the facility and there is good demand here in Dakshina Kannada," she said, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
In total, at present there are 31 hostels under the Social Welfare department for SC/ST students pursuing PU to degree, engineering, medical courses in Dakshina Kannada.
"We have a sanctioned strength of 150 students per hostel and for additional students, there is a provision to accommodate them in rented buildings. When there is over-strength, we have our own buildings which we are making use of. There is no accommodation issue in our district as of now," Hemalatha added.
She said following complaints of meal quality and menu discrepancies, the department has introduced a social audit system for its hostels which includes regular posting of meal photos and menus on social media platforms, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
"Earlier, there were complaints about different menus in the hostels. Hence, as per the new social audit system, to maintain food transparency, we are uploading photos of the menu chart, food served three times a day, the kitchen on social media platforms and we accept feedback also," she said.
