BARGARH: Students of Panchayat College on Wednesday staged protest demanding better living conditions in the hostels.
The agitating students sat on a dharna at the college gate for over three hours accusing the administration of turning a blind eye to their plight.
Established in 1960, the college houses male students in a three-storey undergraduate (UG) hostel and a two-storey postgraduate (PG) hostel.
The students alleged that both the hostels are in severe disrepair with unhygienic, unsafe and inhuman conditions affecting their health and studies.
Students of all the UG and PG batches joined the protest demanding immediate repair of the hostels and access to basic facilities. “Despite submitting several complaints, the college administration failed to take any action following which we decided to stage the protest,” they said.
Among the issues highlighted by the agitators were broken bathroom doors, unusable latrines, and lack of safe drinking water. Each floor reportedly houses 12-14 rooms. At least three students are allotted a room. Six students with disabilities reside in the hostel, but their dedicated bathroom remains poorly maintained and barely usable, they alleged.
Food quality in the hostel mess was another key issue. Students alleged that insects are regularly found in the meals.
“Students are required to pay 80 per cent of the mess fees every month, irrespective of whether they eat there or not. This policy is exploitative and unjust,” they claimed.
One of the students said every time there’s a NAAC visit or inspection, only the ground floor is cleaned and repaired. The upper floors, where the real problems exist, are completely ignored.
Kisan Bania, a final-year UG student, said, “I have been raising these issues since I joined the hostel. But the superintendent keeps on giving false assurances. Now I am in my final year, and the situation has only worsened.”
Later in the day, the college authorities invited a student delegation for discussion. Principal Nakul Seth said the condition of the hostels will be improved within 10 days.
