They sat on demonstration at the hostel gate on Saturday night, alleging that the infrastructure and facilities are in poor state
Students protest at the gate of their hostels in Worli
A group of 300 youngsters have been staging a sit-in at Worli since Saturday night against the poor administration at their hostels. They are demonstrating outside the gate of one of the three hostels run by the Social Welfare Department (SWD).
The students, in the age group 19-23 years, have alleged that they have not received their stationary or other stipends for the past six months. Regular stipend is Rs 800 per month for boys and R900 for girls. Stationary stipend is Rs 2,500 for engineering students and Rs 5,000 for others. "How are we supposed to continue surviving without the stipend. Examinations are approaching, too," said another student.
ADVERTISEMENT
They have also complained about the poor condition of the hostel buildings and said there is no woman warden at the girls' hostel.
SWD runs the hostel in two buildings — 116 and 118 — in the BDD Chawls vicinity. Building number 116 houses hostels for both women and men while the other is an all-men hostel housing 150 students. Of the 300 students, 40 are visually challenged.
One student told mid-day, "The hostel is in really bad condition. Canteen is the most unhygienic place with no proper facilities. The staff is unclean and many time has been seen working under inebriated condition. About five months back a huge pile of construction debris was dumped near our hostel after wall of an adjacent building was broken by the Public Welfare Department. Several requests to remove the debris have fallen on deaf ears."
Another student complained about clashes with the residents of another building because of haphazard parking which causes inconvenience to the visually challenged students.
SWD Regional Deputy Commissioner Babasaheb Solanki, responsible for the hostels, was unavailable to comment.
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
