The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : OU to have third girls hostel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

OU to have third girls hostel

R. Ravikanth Reddy

It reduces demand-supply gap as more students can be accommodated

HYDERABAD: The long-felt need for an additional girls hostel at Osmania University will soon be a reality with work on the new building set to commence in another 10 days.

The new structure will come up in the open space in the girls hostel complex.

The new hostel will reduce the demand-supply gap as it can accommodate 500 more students from the campus and constituent colleges.

The over crowding in the present two hostels, where nearly 1,200 students stay, will also be contained.

The 33 per cent reservation for girls has put enormous pressure in the existing facilities, and the former Vice-Chancellor, J. Anantha Swamy, took the initiative last year.

The number of hostels in the university will now go up to 19. Of them, six are under the control of the principals of College of Engineering and the College of Technology while the rest come under the purview of the Chief Warden.

But the existing number is not sufficient. "We are accommodating 5,000-odd students in 12 hostels that can take only 3,000. Since we don't want to disappoint anyone, the number of students in each room is being enhanced every year though it is crowded," says K. Ramakrishna, Chief Warden.

Hostel reforms

The hostel reforms introduced by the former Vice-Chancellor, D.C. Reddy, have certainly helped the university accommodate more students. Hostels have become more viable after being attached to colleges during Dr. Reddy's regime. Now mess admissions are controlled by college principal concerned who keeps a check on the attendance.

The Chief Warden gets money from the principal concerned and not from students. "The principal pays every month and the money is then adjusted from the scholarships that come in the later part of the year," says Dr. Ramakrishna.

If the difference amount is huge, students are asked to pay some amount every month. "Dues have come down considerably due to the new system."

The Chief Warden incurs an expenditure of Rs. 24 lakhs per month for hostels and mess, but the scholarships sanctioned are not to that order. A majority of students are from BC, SC and ST communities, drawing scholarships from the Government. But that doesn't meet their needs. A student gets anywhere between Rs. 570 and Rs. 650 depending on the course, but the mess bills are in the range of Rs. 900 to Rs. 1,200. Students end up paying the differential amount or else lose the mess facility.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh