PALACE ROAD: Over 50 students in the Mass Communication department, Central College, do not have access to a clean toilet on campus.
The single toilet for men and women that stood here earlier has now been pulled down, and students cannot cross Palace Road due to the heavy traffic. So, for now, it’s BBMP toilets to the rescue.
“This place has been around from 1974, but it had only one toilet for men and women, when I joined in 2014,” one of 48 post-graduation students told City Express on condition of anonymity. In addition, four research scholars study under the department.
After students complained, construction began for a separate toilet for women. However, recently, it was also decided to reconstruct the existing toilet, leaving the campus with none at all, according to another student.
A student is shocked by the idea of a shared toilet for men and women. “We are all grown-ups, post-grad students” she rued. “And visitors use this toilet too.”
The BBMP toilet that the students now frequent is dirty, the student said. “Luckily for me, my hostel is right beside the college building,” she said. “But I can’t imagine a ladies’ washroom without a dustbin.” This, she said, is particularly difficult when they are menstruating, she added.
In all, the campus has 14 women students.
“After all the talk about Swacch Bharat, we don’t even have basic facilities,” she said.
Staff politics to blame?
According to the students, an ego clash two senior members of the faculty has resulted in this situation.
“We are mass communication students, but we don’t have access to computers or the Internet,” said a student. “We got to know around `60 lakh was sanctioned from UGC SAP programme to improve the infrastructure in 2009-2010. The amount was not utilised because of internal politics and it was withdrawn by the UGC in June 2015.”
A student compared the teaching to ‘trying to explain to a visually impaired person how an elephant looks’. “We only learn the theory. No practicals because of lack of computers and other facilities,” she said.
The students are also scared of the snakes that might lurk in the garden in front of the college. “Last year, we cleared the garden. The college authorities have now left it unkempt,” said another student.