Editorial
Hall accommodation reeling in severe crisis
Root of many of the campus' problems
A photograph of students taking refuge in the verandah of a DU dorm, published in this newspaper yesterday, shows how deplorable the accommodation problem for the students on the campus has become. The photograph indeed spoke volumes of their plight.
It is particularly disconcerting for the newcomers, raising some fundamental questions. The halls can hardly provide accommodation to around 25 percent of the students seeking such facility. So, there is a huge gap between the demand and the existing arrangement. The university authorities have so far failed to address the issue which is why it has kept worsening year after year, as more and more students are clamouring for seats in the halls.
The problems associated with such overcrowding of halls are far too many and their effects all too debilitating to be overlooked any more. It is often reported that outsiders and former students stay at the halls, making it all the more difficult for bona fide students to have their due share of the scanty space. Then the question of health and hygiene cannot be evaded when halls remain sardine-packed and consequently the pressure on severely constrained amenities grows all the time. Such places are far from ideal for pursuing higher education.
It seems things are going wrong at several points. First, the educational authorities are not paying due attention to the students' issue of accommodation. There is apparently no planning insofar as admitting students in the halls is concerned -- the inflow is much greater than the outflow, that too complicated by outgoing students overstaying hospitality of the dorm authorities.
The politically charged student organisations appear to be least bothered about the plight of general students. In fact, one wonders, whether they are taking advantage of the situation. Instead of concentrating on students' welfare, as they are expected to, they get involved in criminal activities and violence which hurt the students' interest.
The overcrowded dorms are indeed an obstacle to creating an ideal atmosphere of learning. The university authorities will have to increase the dorm capacities to overcome this acute shortage of seats coupled with effective utilisation of the existing space. Obviously, expelling the outsiders or illegal occupants of seats should be a priority with the hall authorities as well. One way to ease the situation would be to encourage the private sector to set up student homes with bank finance.
Finally, the student organisations must not be allowed to carry on the business of occupying and selling seats at the halls. This is by and large responsible for the chaotic situation prevailing in not only the halls, but also the campus as a whole.
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