THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The College of Engineering Trivandrum has come under fire for serving unhygienic food to students in its ladies’ hostel.
More than three instances of spotting pieces of worms and centipedes were reported in the last two weeks. Owing to this, the ladies’ hostel union organised a strike demanding action on Tuesday.
They also alleged that the well which supplies water to the hostel lies within a 10-m distance for the past few years,” said Aishwarya, an inmate of the hostel.
Food poisoning has also become a frequent among many students, with the most recent case being reported two days ago, she added.
“Online food delivery apps are enjoying a good time because of these repeated incidents, as students prefer to buy food from outside despite paying for the hostel mess,” said another student.
She further said that students were also bitten by mice inside the hostel rooms a few months ago.
Another set of students reported that water has been seeping through a wall between the hostel rooms and the toilet. “This has resulted in the growth of fungus on the walls. Many students have also suffered from allergy due to the same,” said a student.
They also pointed out that the hostel hosts over 700 students when fully functional, despite having a lesser capacity.
They stated that these issues have been raised with the hostel authorities multiple times, but none of them have yielded any results. However, according to college principal Suresh K, no hygiene issues or complaints of food poisoning have been reported in the hostel since he took charge.
“The recent development is due to the worms from vegetables used for cooking. It could have possibly been a mistake by the mess workers,” he told the TNIE.
Following a meeting with the principal, union general secretary Karthika S said, “The union is trying to connect with new vegetable dealers for the hostel mess. The union members will also have a meeting with their local MLA, hostel and college authorities on Thursday in light of this issue. A panel of teachers have already examined the hostel mess post the issue.”