BENGALURU: The recent surprise visit by Upa Lokayukta Justice KN Phaneendra to the Post-Matric Girls Hostel in Ramanagara, around 50km from Bengaluru, exposed the plight of 80 inmates who were given poor quality food, had abysmal infrastructure and were ill-treated.
He initiated suo motu proceedings against the authorities for corrective measures.
The inmates complained that they were not provided sufficient quantity or quality food, and often were given only rice which was sticky and had worms in it.
If the girls pointed it out, they were told to throw the food and eat at Indira canteens. In fact, one student was made to starve the whole day, the girls complained to the Upa Lokayukta.
The girls also revealed that idli/ dosa was not prepared, on the pretext that there was no grinder, and they were not given biscuits or rusk in the evening as per menu, though the hostel authorities had raised bills for them.
The girls also pointed out that there were few washrooms, and the doors had no locks, there was acute shortage of water, and fans in the dormitories did not work.
They were not given sanitary pads/napkins and neither were incinerators installed. The computers given to them are not functional.
“I could see that the steel cots were rattling even with a gentle touch,” Upa Lokayukta Phaneendra said, adding that the food provided is not sufficient for growing teenagers.
He noted that the cots were not properly fixed, bed sheets and pillows were not provided to the girls and the warden was demanding Rs 100 per day to allow the students to stay.
Frequent power outage due to non-payment of bills to Bescom had affected the girls’ studies. The staff hired for cooking were not paid salaries regularly, he said in an order.
Noting that the hostel administration was abysmal, he issued 15 guidelines to the Social Welfare and Backward Classes and Minorities Departments, to address the grievances not only of this hostel, but to check other hostels too. He also directed all Lokayukta SPs to visit hostels periodically.