Accommodate the needy
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: September 22, 2014 -

Students hailing from the remote villages in the nook and corner of Manipur always need accommodation for study at the location of their educational institutions.

This must be the purpose of erecting hostel buildings in reputed schools and colleges here and there.

But how far the government planning of hostel buildings reflects the needs of the institutions concerned has been a pertinent question now.

It is amazing that huge hostel buildings have been constructed inside schools and colleges having hardly 30/40 students in its enrolment register.

Not too far from the district headquarters, the Ideal Girls College in Imphal East is an instance with a huge hostel building within its campus which can house at least a hundred students.

Right from the very completion of construction of the building, the hostel is still lying unused till today.

The rationale of erecting a hostel building at this college campus is totally absent, as its students have never been in demand of hostel accommodation and the need of hostels does not arise at all.

It is just one example in which funds for development are being utilised for construction of useless structures.

“Planning sans the purpose” has been a very common happening in Manipur, as it seems most development plans are initiated on the behest of selfish contractors.

Educational institutions which are in dire need of hostel accommodation do not have hostel buildings, while those which never demand lodging facility have huge buildings.

On the other hand, hostels built for housing the needy students have remained occupied by non-students since their inauguration.

A report from Ukhrul district has revealed that students of Ukhrul Higher Secondary School are left without hostel facility, even though hostels have already been set up there for nearly a decade.

The reason is that school staffs remain occupying the hostels meant for students.

Two separate hostel buildings for boys and girls of Ukhrul Higher Secondary School established in 2008 for accommodating students who hail from remote villages and those who belong to low income families have been turned into staff quarters.

Reason for denial of the hostel facility to students, according to the Principal of the school, is simply the lack of kitchen and furniture such as beds and tables.

Each of the hostel building has 34 rooms with a capacity of two beds in each room to accommodate 136 hostellers.

There are sufficient toilets and bathrooms with water pipeline connection, electricity and large study hall.

The school principal also disclosed that a few staffs with permission of former principal, had occupied the hostel buildings immediately after inauguration, and subsequently more and more staff moved to the hostel buildings with families.

Interestingly, the staffs were partially evacuated earlier on two occasions in 2012 and 2013 when children of the district rescued from outside the state were to be temporarily lodged in one of the two buildings. But the staffs again reoccupied the building subsequent to the release of the rescued children.

It is worth recalling that the Principal Secretary Education (s) Dr. Suresh Babu during his visit to the victims of child trafficking in 2013 had also verbally instructed the then Deputy Commissioner of Ukhrul to initiate steps to ensure hostel facility to students.

To accommodate the needy students inside the buildings which are meant for them is a must.