BANGALORE: A few students of Bangalore University seem to like their hostel life so much that they are refusing to vacate the hostel years after they completed their studies.
These illegal occupants at Jnana Bharathi campus are now forcing the university authorities to consider handing over the hostels to the social welfare department.
University Vice Chancellor Thimme Gowda told reporters here on Tuesday, “Two committees visited the hostels within a week, and the house committee has called for a meeting on October 27. In that meeting I will ask the social welfare department to run the hostels.”
According to the V-C and the registrar, some people are staying in the hostel illegally but whenever the university tries to evict them, they raise hell and accuse the university of wrongdoing.
“As per our knowledge, those who are residing illegally are the ones causing trouble. They are the people who complain to committees and commissions and damage things in the hostel during visits,” Thimme Gowda said.
Former V-C Dr N Prabhu Dev also faced the same problem. When Prabhu Dev took steps to evict the illegal inmates, they staged protests, which backfired on him. Finally, he decided to stay away from the hostels.
Some of the complaints against the hostel students are: When new beds are provided, the students set them on fire stating bed bugs as the reason
Toilet pipes are often blocked with wheat flour or sand, water lines are found damaged, electric cookers are used in the rooms, often causing short circuit in the entire building.
20-Yr-Old Building
A 20-year-old hostel building in the Jnana Bharathi campus is on the verge of collapse. It was constructed during 1998-99 by the government for the university but is now found to have a damaged foundation. Thimme Gowda said the university is shelling out `58 lakh in the first phase of reconstructing the hostel. Besides, repair works have also been taken up in all the hostel buildings.