SRIKAKULAM: Although there are more than 600 students in the college, there are not more than six toilets. Shockingly, the Ichchapuram Girls’ Junior College has been operating from the high school complex since 1999. Only five rooms have been allocated, besides the office, staff and library rooms.
Students are often suffocated due to overcrowded classrooms. “We could not even dare to drink enough water to satisfy thirst during the college hours for fear of going to toilet,” a second-year college student, Ramya (name changed) said.
It was learnt that the girl students often suffer from urinary tract infections due to inadequate consumption of water and unhygienic toilets.
For the construction of a new college building, the former TDP government had granted `1.04 crore and allocated one acre land near Gandhi Park at Ichchapuram three years ago. The then minister K Atchannaidu along with local MLA B Ashok had laid the foundation stone. For unknown reasons, the funds were revoked.
To adjust more than 100 students in a single classroom, the college management has forced the students to sit on the ground without providing benches. The students of different groups are forced to sit in a single classroom.
With no alternative, the college management merges two or sometimes more groups in a single classroom. “As the rooms are packed with the students, we cannot concentrate on the lessons taught by the teachers,” Lavanya, a second-year college student, said. “Sometimes the classes too are being held in the corridors. We don’t find any place for washing lunch boxes. We eat lunch sitting on the floor at the playground,” she added.
The college was established in 1999 at Ichchapuram and since then it has been operating from the girls’ high school complex, principal AV Krishna Kumar said. He also said there were about 600 students in the college. “We offer MPC, BPC, CEC, HEC and vocational (MPHW) streams in the college,” he added. Three years ago, the government had allocated one-acre site near Gandhi Park and granted Rs 1.04 crore for construction of new college building.
K Atchannaidu and MLA B Ashok laid the foundation stone. The principal said the building plan was prepared by the contracting agency and for unknown reasons, the process was stopped suddenly.