From: P.Esakkimuthu <ttnuef@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 8:50 PM
Subject: [untouchabilityeradicationfront] Students find TN hostels messy
To: untouchabilityeradicationfront@yahoogroups.com
The growing resentment among dalit students staying in hostels run by Adi dravidar and tribal welfare department over its pathetic condition seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
"We have been raising the issue of inhuman living conditions of hostels for the past many years. Whenever we stage a protest, the officials visit us and assure to resolve our problems but they do not keep their promise," say students of the hostel in the city. The complaints vary from unhygienic living conditions to poor quality of food and inadequate toilet facilities. Overcrowded rooms, poor electricity facilities, no running water and contaminated drinking water are other common complaints.
The condition of the M.C. Rajah hostel in Saidapet is a glaring example of poor maintenance, said Mr M. Chella Kumar, a former resident of the hostel. "Overcrowding is a major problem here. Around 1,300 persons stay in 52 rooms in the three-storey building against the sanctioned strength of 595 boarders," he said, pointing out that most of the 700-odd outsiders were students who did not get accommodation in government-run hostels and unemployed dalits.
In spite of a weekly menu prescribed by the department, it is not followed most of the time. The food is prepared as per the whims and fancies of the warden. "As per the menu, we should be served tea with snacks in the evening. But it is not followed," a student said on condition of anonymity. Not only this hostel, most hostels run by the department are in a pathetic state, said students federation of India state president K.S. Kanagaraj.
According to the policy note on Adi dravidar and tribal welfare department, daily allowance per day is Rs 18.40 and Rs 15 a day for a college and school student in Tamil Nadu. Apart from this, the college students get a monthly allowance of Rs 35 for soap, oil, etc., which comes to Rs 1.10 per day. "In spite of rapid increase in the prices of essential commodities, the government has not hiked the food allowance for the past two years. We have been demanding the government to increase the allowance from Rs 550 and Rs 450 per month to at least Rs 1,500," Mr Kanagaraj said.
At a consultation and public hearing on discrimination and violation of human rights standards in government (adi dravidar) hostels for college students, in the city recently, it was recommended that the practice of serving food in buckets must be stopped immediately; secondly, the government menu must be followed and include nutritious and hygienically-cooked foods.
Within six months, the government must take measures to house hostels in permanent buildings with adequate infrastructure, including sanitation, drinking water, quality food served in dining halls, library, recreation centre, physical activity centre, airy rooms, cupboards, lighting facilities and beds with beddings, it said.
All officials and ministry of adi dravidar welfare responsible for non-utilisation of funds must be prosecuted for negligence and discrimination amounting to atrocities under the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989
source:Decan herald 3.3.11
Palash Biswas
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