Vasanth Kumar, a Class IX student staying at a government hostel in Hattikuni village, has a torn blanket and he manages with it in winter. It has been more than three years since his blanket was replaced last.
The hostel for SC/ST Students is maintained by the Social Welfare Department. Vasanth Kumar’s case is not an isolated one about one-third of the 50 students in the hostel do not have good blankets. Also, the present drought in the state has worsened their condition. Students are forced to take bath just twice or thrice a week, depending on the availability of water.
To see the condition of the hostel maintained by the department, Express did random checks in several districts and found that a many students were put to hardship as hostels lacked basic amenities like electricity, toilets, plates and bedding.
“There are neither solar lights nor UPS back-up in the hostels. Students suffer during exam times. There is also water scarcity. We have requested the officials concerned, but we have not got any response so far,” said Manjula, warden of an hostel at Hattikuni.
The data provided by the Social Welfare Department on around 100 hostels in Chitradurga, Yadgir, Bangalore Rural, Ramnagar, Tumkur and Chikbalapur districts reveal that 40 per cent of the hostels do not have a library, 60 per cent of them do not have any sport equipment and no proper blankets were provided to the students in 25 per cent of the hostels.
“In our hostel, students do not even have enough plates to eat. They just manage by sharing plates or bringing them from home. Nobody does a regular inspection to check if all facilities are properly maintained. Though we have made several requests to the department, the condition remains the same,” said H M Ramachandrappa, warden at Avani Boys Hostel in Mulbagal of Kolar district.
For 2012-13, the department has released Rs 50 lakh to each district for building repairs, including improving toilets and bathrooms, water supply, electrification and building compound walls. Beside, it has planned to spend Rs 2 crore on hostels in each district this year.
P Nagesh, deputy director in-charge for hostels declined to comment on the issue, while Shambu Dayal Meena, secretary, and Naveen Raj Singh commissioner of Social Welfare Department could not be contacted.