CHENNAI: Demand to relax hostel restrictions in Tamil Nadu is on the rise as most educational institutions have been permitted to function. The Central and State government regulations do not allow sharing of rooms in hostels. Many engineering colleges are yet to reopen for all classes and many other institutions have asked students to find rooms outside the college premises.
Civil service aspirants, who were accepted for training in the government run All India Civil Services Coaching Centre claimed that many students who were in need of hostel facilities were not given spots due to the restrictions. “After clearing the entrance examinations for the centre that were conducted on January 24, my name was released in the non-residential list even though I had requested for hostel facilities. It will cost at least Rs 10,000 a month to stay outside in Chennai. How can I pay that?” said M Balasubramaniam, one of the aspirants.
T Vignesh, another aspirant from Kallakuruchi said that he faced the same problem. “The coaching centre said that all students who opted Chennai as their exam centre for entrance tests will not be given hostel rooms.,” he said adding that lesser students were taken into hostels this year. Under the recent guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), colleges may not permit students to share rooms. The same applies under the SoP issued by the Tamil Nadu government.
RM Kishore, vice-chairman - RMK Group of Institutions, who is on the board of the state’s private college management association said that many engineering colleges are yet to reopen for all classes at the same time because of this problem. “Due to the Covid situation, parents are reluctant to let their children stay outside the campus. So the demand for hostels is higher than before.
But we can accommodate very few students because of the regulation,” he said. He added that many colleges have come up with a shift-based system to abide by the regulations. “However since the Covid situation has improved in Tamil Nadu, it will be easier if the regulations are relaxed,” he said. Sai Prakash Leo Muthu, CEO, Sairam Institutions, said that they were waiting for the green signal from the government to reopen hostels.
“By the end of the month we are expecting the next level of unlocking. Ideally three students will occupy each hostel room,” he said. P Vijayalakhsmi, who runs a private Paying Guest, said that she has lost months of revenue as the relaxation has not been extended to hostels.