Pitiful plight of Adi Dravidar hostels highlighted at hearing
It is Time to constitute State Assembly standing committee consisting of SC/ST MLA/MLC on the line of Parliamentary standing committee to review and evaluate the implementation of welfare measures to SC/ST by Various departments of State Governments!
Years of neglect and official apathy to the basic well being of students in Government Adi Dravidar Hostels in Chennai were reflected in the tears and anger of the students at a public hearing on Wednesday.
Eighteen students, past and present inmates of the Adi Dravidar hostels, deposed at a Consultation and Public Hearing on Discrimination and violation of Human Rights standards in Government (Adi-Dravidar) Hostels for College Students in Tamil Nadu. All of them spoke of poor conditions in these Adi Dravidar hostels.
“The State has been granted over Rs 3,000 crore under the Special Component Plan for Dalit welfare. Can anyone tell us where the money is going? It is used for bridges and roads. There is not even a booklet on the funds spent under the plans,” said K. Prem Kumar, setting the tone. “There are 62 IAS officers from the Dalit community in service but still no hope for us,” he said.
A past inmate of the M.C. Raja Hostel in Saidapet, he said that the Chennai Mayor inaugurated a library at the hostel which has no books. While the government announces sports, gym and computer facilities, he said the students have seen none so far.
“There is no point in talking about the issues all over again. Everyone knows the pathetic conditions in the Adi Dravidar hostels,” said Manikandan, who stayed at the same hostel. Dalit students have resigned themselves to the fact that they must lead a life of the condemned for the years they stay at the hostel, he said.
All the students complained of the negligence of officials in keeping the campus and toilets clean; of unhygienic food served in plastic buckets; lack of transparency in administration and inefficiency of wardens. The students were also critical of leaders of Dalit parties for failing to take any effort to improve the conditions in hostels.
Admitting that students, other than those allotted rooms, stayed with them, Pitchai Pillai asked how they could drive away friends from poor families. Students come to study and not protest, he said. Many students worked in catering service during the evenings to eat good food at least once a day, he said. Students of the PG Hostel in Royapuram said that students worked as security guards in neighbourhood to meet personal expenses.
“We live the life of refugees in Chennai,” said a PG student. Many students said they were prepared to starve but the government must set up library, computers and spoken English classes in hostels. “Our primary goal for coming here is knowledge that will give us job and a dignified life,” said G. Muthuvel, a student of Literature in New College. “The government spends Rs 62 on a sniffer dog everyday. Can't it spend Rs 50 on a Dalit student aspiring to be successful,” asked a student.
Based on the depositions, the six NGOs recommended a complete overhaul of administration in the hostels to ensure hygienic conditions, medical facilities, proper menu lists, and healthy food. The practice of serving food in buckets must be stopped immediately. Another recommendation strongly suggested prosecution of officials of the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department for decades of negligence and discrimination amounting to atrocities under the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Source : The Hindu dt 17.02.2011
Students bemoan state of govt hostels
M Ramajayam, a postgraduate student at Madras University, said that the government does not want him to study any further. “There are no government hostels for MPhil and PhD students in Chennai even though a lot of young people come here from all over the state for higher education,” Ramajayam, a resident of Government PG Students hostel in Royapuram, said.
He was one of the speakers at a consultation and public hearing on discrimination and violation of human rights standards in government (Adi-Dravidar) hostels for college students in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
The hearing, organised by human rights and dalit organisations, had an audience of nearly 40 students who live in five government hostels in the city. “Most of the undergraduate and postgraduate hostels are overcrowded as they are forced to accommodate MPhil and PhD students who have nowhere else to stay,” Ramajayam said.
Also, postgraduation students find limited accommodation as only one of the five hostels in Chennai is meant for postgraduate students. Organisers said that while there were 111 undergraduate hostels in the state, only 11 were meant to house postgraduate students.
Students also said the rooms were overcrowded, filled to three to four times their capacity. To protest against the bad conditions at these hostels, the students of the MC Raja college hostel in Saidapet had taken to the streets in December blocking the arterial Anna Salai for many hours.
“It was only after this protest that we have taken account of the conditions of these hostels,” said S Vikram, co-ordinator at the human rights advocacy and research foundation in Chennai which conducted a study of the five city hostels.
The students also asked for proper utilisation of funds allotted in the budget. As of now, the students receive a daily allowance of Rs 18.40 and a monthly allowance of Rs 35 for soap, oil and other basic requirements. “This allowance amounts to only Rs 1.10 per person per day which is very low,” another student said.
Source: The Times of India dated 17.02.2011
For further reading on the above subject appeared in Front line please click the following link.
http://www.frontline.in/fl2802/stories/20110128280209000.htm
It is Time to constitute State Assembly standing committee consisting of SC/ST MLA/MLC on the line of Parliamentary standing committee to review and evaluate the implementation of welfare measures to SC/ST by Various departments of State Governments!
Years of neglect and official apathy to the basic well being of students in Government Adi Dravidar Hostels in Chennai were reflected in the tears and anger of the students at a public hearing on Wednesday.
Eighteen students, past and present inmates of the Adi Dravidar hostels, deposed at a Consultation and Public Hearing on Discrimination and violation of Human Rights standards in Government (Adi-Dravidar) Hostels for College Students in Tamil Nadu. All of them spoke of poor conditions in these Adi Dravidar hostels.
“The State has been granted over Rs 3,000 crore under the Special Component Plan for Dalit welfare. Can anyone tell us where the money is going? It is used for bridges and roads. There is not even a booklet on the funds spent under the plans,” said K. Prem Kumar, setting the tone. “There are 62 IAS officers from the Dalit community in service but still no hope for us,” he said.
A past inmate of the M.C. Raja Hostel in Saidapet, he said that the Chennai Mayor inaugurated a library at the hostel which has no books. While the government announces sports, gym and computer facilities, he said the students have seen none so far.
“There is no point in talking about the issues all over again. Everyone knows the pathetic conditions in the Adi Dravidar hostels,” said Manikandan, who stayed at the same hostel. Dalit students have resigned themselves to the fact that they must lead a life of the condemned for the years they stay at the hostel, he said.
All the students complained of the negligence of officials in keeping the campus and toilets clean; of unhygienic food served in plastic buckets; lack of transparency in administration and inefficiency of wardens. The students were also critical of leaders of Dalit parties for failing to take any effort to improve the conditions in hostels.
Admitting that students, other than those allotted rooms, stayed with them, Pitchai Pillai asked how they could drive away friends from poor families. Students come to study and not protest, he said. Many students worked in catering service during the evenings to eat good food at least once a day, he said. Students of the PG Hostel in Royapuram said that students worked as security guards in neighbourhood to meet personal expenses.
“We live the life of refugees in Chennai,” said a PG student. Many students said they were prepared to starve but the government must set up library, computers and spoken English classes in hostels. “Our primary goal for coming here is knowledge that will give us job and a dignified life,” said G. Muthuvel, a student of Literature in New College. “The government spends Rs 62 on a sniffer dog everyday. Can't it spend Rs 50 on a Dalit student aspiring to be successful,” asked a student.
Based on the depositions, the six NGOs recommended a complete overhaul of administration in the hostels to ensure hygienic conditions, medical facilities, proper menu lists, and healthy food. The practice of serving food in buckets must be stopped immediately. Another recommendation strongly suggested prosecution of officials of the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department for decades of negligence and discrimination amounting to atrocities under the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Source : The Hindu dt 17.02.2011
Students bemoan state of govt hostels
M Ramajayam, a postgraduate student at Madras University, said that the government does not want him to study any further. “There are no government hostels for MPhil and PhD students in Chennai even though a lot of young people come here from all over the state for higher education,” Ramajayam, a resident of Government PG Students hostel in Royapuram, said.
He was one of the speakers at a consultation and public hearing on discrimination and violation of human rights standards in government (Adi-Dravidar) hostels for college students in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
The hearing, organised by human rights and dalit organisations, had an audience of nearly 40 students who live in five government hostels in the city. “Most of the undergraduate and postgraduate hostels are overcrowded as they are forced to accommodate MPhil and PhD students who have nowhere else to stay,” Ramajayam said.
Also, postgraduation students find limited accommodation as only one of the five hostels in Chennai is meant for postgraduate students. Organisers said that while there were 111 undergraduate hostels in the state, only 11 were meant to house postgraduate students.
Students also said the rooms were overcrowded, filled to three to four times their capacity. To protest against the bad conditions at these hostels, the students of the MC Raja college hostel in Saidapet had taken to the streets in December blocking the arterial Anna Salai for many hours.
“It was only after this protest that we have taken account of the conditions of these hostels,” said S Vikram, co-ordinator at the human rights advocacy and research foundation in Chennai which conducted a study of the five city hostels.
The students also asked for proper utilisation of funds allotted in the budget. As of now, the students receive a daily allowance of Rs 18.40 and a monthly allowance of Rs 35 for soap, oil and other basic requirements. “This allowance amounts to only Rs 1.10 per person per day which is very low,” another student said.
Source: The Times of India dated 17.02.2011
For further reading on the above subject appeared in Front line please click the following link.
http://www.frontline.in/fl2802/stories/20110128280209000.htm
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