A special hostel named Barak hostel for the North East community students was e-inaugurated at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday evening, February 4, by Home Minister Amit Shah.
However, it was in July 2017 when the foundation stone of the hostel was laid by the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh in JNU. The building was officially inaugurated on February 4, 2024. The construction of the hostel was delayed for over three years as per the sources, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
This hostel has been made on a budget of Rs 28.675 crore.
Owing to the paucity of accommodation on the campus, students ' unions have been protesting since last year demanding that the Barak hostel be opened for male students.
Hostel to facilitate more than 446 students
The purpose of building this hostel was to accommodate 75% of the North Eastern students studying on the campus. The Barak hostel, named after the Barak River in the North East, will offer 228 rooms and will be able to facilitate as many as 446 North Eastern students on the campus on five floors. Each room will have a balcony and students will be able to have their meals in a huge dining area.
The university hostel system includes 18 Hostels for boys and girls and one complex accommodating married students. Brahmaputra, Chandrabhaga, Ganga, Godavari, Jhelum, Kaveri, Koyna, Lohit, Mahadevi, Mahanadi, Narmada, Periyar, Sabarmati, Shipra, Sutlej, Tapti, Yamuna and Damodar are the hostels in JNU.
Shipra and Koyna hostels have the highest capacity of 544 students. Currently, JNU offers hostel accommodation to as many as 5,500 students.
Telangana State President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), G Kishan Reddy shared a video of the hostel and posted on X, saying, "Bridging the gap & providing quality & accessible education to the youth of North East!"
"The state-of-the-art Barak Hostel for the students of North East was inaugurated at the JNU campus. With a capacity to accommodate 446 students, this North Eastern Council supported project reflects the commitment & dedication of Narendra Modi government to create better opportunities & build a bright future for the Yuva Shakti," his post further read.
