Girls Hostel Issue @ NUJS: the problem and some alternative solutions

Jenisha Parikh is a member of the first batch in NUJS that pays in excess of 1 lakh 80 thousand in annual fee. One would expect that facilities will improve after such a giant fee hike. Well, seems that is wrong. Now female students from her batch and the next batch are being asked to stay in triple occupancy in rooms that are made from two people. And the administration never consulted any student about this. I hope this blog will not remain the only place where she can voice her concerns about adverse living conditions that are being forced upon the first year and second year students, if they are female, at NUJS.  

We  left  for  our  holidays  with  a  glimmer  of  hope  that  as  we  become  ‘seniors’ and  get  promoted  to  the  second  year, we  might  have  a  single  room  or  that  the status  quo, (that  is  two  girls  in  one  room)  shall  prevail. One  of  my  batchmate   thought  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  arrive  two  days  early  to  college  so  that  she  could  settle  down  before  the  classes  resumed. However, she  was  in  for  a  rude  shock  as  she  entered  the  NUJS  Girl’s  Hostel. She  was  informed  that  a  two-seater  room  would  now  accommodate  three  girls!  Also, the  rooms  have  not  been  properly  allocated  yet, leaving  the  poor  girl  fuming.

This  piece  of news  has  created  great  furore  as  we   were  kept  in  the  dark  about  the new  arrangement. Even  after  paying  sky  rocketing  fees, it  is  difficult  to  accept  that  they  could  even  think  of  keeping  us   in  such  abysmal  conditions!

Some  people  might  think  what  is  the  hullabaloo  all  about  as  many  hostels  accommodate  three  people  in  a  room. Well, the   problem  with  the  arrangement  is  as  follows:

1.      This  is  not  a  case  where  the  rooms  are  meant  for  three  people. It  is  two  seater  room  that  is  going  to  be  stuffed  with  three  students. Therefore, it  is  not  that  the  students  are  simply  crying  for  privacy. It  also  involves  the  question  of  great  inconvenience  as  the  room  is  just  not  for  three  people!

2.      The  number  of  bathrooms  would  have  been  constructed  keeping  in  mind  the  strength  of  students  per  floor. However, now  the  strength  per  floor  has  increased  but  the  number  of bathrooms  have not! This  is  another  major  problem  which   needs  to  be  addressed  and  this  problem  cannot  be  solved  by  simply  stuffing  students  in  the  rooms  to  their  inconvenience.

Keeping  in  mind  these  two  broad  issues, we  can  say  that  the  main  problem  is  the  increase  in  the  strength  of girls  per  batch. Therefore, the simplest solution   is to increase   the capacity of the hostel. However, since  this  simple  solution  was  not  adopted  in  the  previous  year, we  now  need  a  temporary  solution  to  this  issue.

On  questioning  the  warden  of  the  girl’s  hostel  as  to  whether  this  is  a  temporary  arrangement  or  a  permanent  one, she  replied  that  it  ‘might’ be  the  latter. It  is  disappointing  to  see  that  this  arrangement  is  simply  being  forced   on  us  without  even  discussing  further  options! Definitely, this arrangement  is  not  the  ‘only  option’. Discussions  amongst  us  have  already  started  and  we  have  come  to  the  following  conclusion/ temporary  options  which  they  should  adopt:

1.      Alternate  accommodation  to  a  nearby  building.

2.      A floor reserved for girls in the boys hostel. We can have certain entry points sealed on that floor.

3.      The  space  in  the  recreational  room  is  being  wasted  which  can  be  converted  into  rooms/dorms. They  are  planning  to  create  a  reading  room  in  the  recreational  room (as  if   the  library  is  nonexistent). Further, the girl’s mess can also be used as a dormitory.

4.     

5.      Some  students  have  also  suggested  that  NUJS  must  reduce  its  intake  capacity. However, I  do  not  feel  that  it  solves  our  problem. This  crisis  was   foreseen  well  in  advance  by  everyone. So  pre-emptive  measures  should  have  been  taken  to  accommodate  everyone  comfortably. The  solution  is  to  find  a  suitable  accommodation, not  reduce  seats  just  because  there  are  too many  girls  getting  admission  every  year!

However, in  order  to  ensure  that  this  problem  never  arise  again, we  need  to  adopt  a  pragmatic  solution, without compromising the living conditions of students. Thus, a  permanent  solution  would  be  to  construct  additional  floors  in  the  girl’s  hostel  as  that  would  automatically  increase  the  capacity  of  the  hostel.

I hope the someone is listening...