Hygienic living conditions is a basic expectation

Garbage piled up and clogged sink inside the college hostel highlight the unhygienic conditions students say they were forced to live with for over a week. Pics/Ritika Gondhalekar

Students at Nair Hospital Dental College hostel complained of unhygienic living conditions for a week, citing uncollected garbage and unclean rooms. Authorities said the issue arose due to a strike by contract-based cleaning staff, our report stated.

Garbage piled up and clogged the sink inside the college hostel highlighted the unhygienic conditions students say they were forced to live with for over a week. The report said that though the garbage was picked up after a week, the rooms were unclean. College authorities did say that there was a strike by contract staff and they had approached the civic authorities to tackle the problem.

One has to press for quick resolutions to such problems, as hygiene is a daily issue, not a one-off. It is also unacceptable that regular hospital cleaning staff are threatened by contract workers when told to fill in for them and clean up. The administration needs to start working on a solution the day the strike begins rather than waiting, as this is a situation that cannot wait. One cannot have students, and that too medical students, living in this filth and dirty conditions, which are not just detrimental to physical health but have adverse effects on mental health too.

This goes for other hostels too, where students will be studying for different degrees. Hostels must be safe, clean and pass the quality test in every way. We are not talking about luxury, we are simply talking about everyday necessities, simple basics of which sanitation is a must.

This paper has sporadically highlighted a sorry state of affairs at some other student hostels too. Those in charge: put living conditions as a factor that needs immediate attention and regular monitoring.