The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has urged the varsity administration to ensure priority hostel allotment to first-year students, especially to those belonging to the SC and ST categories. The students have drafted a letter in this regard to the Dean of Students (DoS) Dr Sudheer Pratap Singh.
JNUSU stated in the letter that the hostel allotment list for male students was yet to be published, despite the fact that undergraduate and postgraduate classes had already started at the university. And this was causing them "extreme difficulties", the students claimed, as per a report by PTI. "The classes for UG and PG batch of 2022 started on 21 and 28 November 2022, respectively. But, so far, your office has not come up with any hostel allotment list for the male students, as a result of which students are facing extreme difficulties. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the allotment process for male students starts at the earliest," the letter reads.
JNUSU claimed that the office of the DoS had cited a lack of rooms as the reason for delays in the hostel allotment process. The students' union suggested that the administration come up with temporary accommodations to tide over the shortage. They have also mentioned their suggestions in the letter, as per PTI. "The Sabarmati dormitory, which has been marked as a COVID Care centre, can be converted to a dormitory for male students as there are negligible COVID cases being reported now. Similarly, other unoccupied guest houses and buildings within the campus should also be converted to temporary accommodation spaces for the students until there are vacancies available in the hostel," the union wrote.
JNUSU has also suggested that the varsity resume allocating the Mahanadi hostel for married research scholars. "Two months have passed since the last single-seater allotment list was released and many students have submitted their thesis and vacated their rooms. It is also requested that the single-seater allotment list be put up at the earliest so that there are vacancies in the double-seaters as well," JNUSU said.
