Accommodation tougher for DU aspirants as Games takes over hostels

Close to 1,200 of such aspirants,however,may not be able to do so this year. Reason: college hostels in DU are being taken over by the government to accommodate foreign delegates who will visit the city during the upcoming Commonwealth Games up till November.

Kirori Mal,Hindu,Hansraj,Ramjas,Shri Ram College of Commerce and St Stephen’s are among the DU colleges that have volunteered. “We are willing to co-operate with the government to promote our national interest,” said Rev Dr Valson Thampu,principal of St Stephen’s College.

The college will,however,be providing its hostel to the Games Organising Committee only during the vacations.

Students are,however,not so enthused,being forced to find alternative accommodation during the period often costlier and less convenient. Debkanta,an MA student of Kirori Mal College,complained,“We are forced to move to paying guest accommodations or rented rooms,which provide fewer facilities at escalated prices.”

Some are not even fully informed about the situation. Vivek,a final-year student of BCom(Hons) in Ramjas College,said,“We have not received an official notification from the authorities yet.”

Colleges such as Hansraj and Hindu will continue to provide accommodation to their physically handicapped students up till November,while the rest are undecided over the issue. Prof S K Vij,Dean of Students’ Welfare Association,stated,“The number of physically handicapped students staying in the hostels is very few,thus accommodating them will not be a problem.”

Renovation work,conducted by the Commonwealth Games Committee,is underway at the hostels. The process is to cost the government approximately Rs 65 lakh per delegate,for which the government is handing out grants to every college. Ramjas is due to receive an estimated Rs 2.3 crore for the renovation process. “Besides repairs and furnishing,it includes the installation of a power back-up system,a RO system,construction of guestrooms and toilets,improving the kitchen,etc.” said the warden of the boys’ hostel at Ramjas.

Among girls’ colleges,Lady Shri Ram and several others have opted to open their hostels for the Games,while others like Indraprastha College and the International Students House for Women have not. Said Dr Babli Moitra Saraf,principal of Indraprastha College,“As it is,we are able to accommodate only about half the number of aspirants for hostel seats.” Indraprastha College has recently expanded its seats by setting up a new hostel near the campus.

Girls admitted in co-ed colleges are worse off. Most co-ed colleges do not provide girls hostel accommodation,and among those that do,very few seats are available for women students. “There is often a long waiting list,particularly for the girls’ hostel,” said Dr Thampu.

Of the seven co-ed colleges in DU that provide hostel facilities,only four have on-campus residential facility for girls,St Stephens and Shri Venkateswara College being the only ones with an equal number of seats for boys and and girls.

Paying guest accommodation
Paying guest accommodation can cost anything between Rs 8,500 to Rs 15,000 per month,where students get facilities like air-conditioning,meals,and laundry,while costlier PGs also provide a WiFi connection,TV,refrigerator,microwave and gym facilities. Prices have shot up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 since the last year,and can possibly go higher.

Hostellers,however,will face a hard time since few PGs provide accommodation for less than 11 months. The rush for acquiring rooms has already started,with most PGs near campus getting occupied rapidly.

Several new PGs have opened up in Kamala Nagar to accommodate the swelling crowd of students . Other PG accommodations are available in Timarpur,Vijay Nagar,Shastri Nagar,etc.

DU hostels: Who has what
Admission to DU hostel facilities has begun along with the college admissions,although the hostel rooms (for colleges volunteering for the Games) will be handed over to the students towards the end of October. The hostel fees range between Rs 10,000 to Rs 45,000 per year at the colleges.The fee is,however,likely to be unaffected by its non-availability to students till November at most colleges.

A list of colleges with on-campus residence facility (fees of respective colleges is given in approximate figures per year):

Daulat Ram College
Seats —125
Games — not participating
Fees:Rs 8,200

Hans Raj College
Seats —215
Games — participating
Fees — not known

Indraprastha College for women
Seats —360
Games — not participating
Fees —Rs 45,000

Kirori Mal College
Seats —170
Games — participating
Fees — not known

Lady Shri Ram College
Seats — decided on department-wise admissions
Games — participating
Fees — not known

Ramjas College
Seats —200
(120 or boys,80 for girls)
Games —participating
Fees —Rs 13,000-Rs 14,000

SRCC
Seats —203
(150 for boys,53 for girls)
Games — participating
Fees —Rs 12,000

Shri VenkateswaraSeats —72rooms
(36 each for boys and girls)
Games — not participating
Fees — not known

St Stephen’s College
Seats —380
(190 each for boys and girls)
Games — participating
Fees —Rs 40,000-Rs 45,000

Miranda House
Seat — 120rooms
Games — participating
Fees — not known

Hindu College
Seats —230
Games — participating
Fees —Rs 11,000

International Students’ House for Women
Seats — not known
Games — not participating
Fees — not known

Lady Irwin College
Games — not participating
For post-graduate students as well,hostel admission will be taking place along with the college admission process. Authorities are still undecided on whether these hostels will be vacated for accommodating Commonwealth Games delegates.