The Northeastern students of Jawaharlal Nehru University can finally heave a sigh of relief as Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh has announced a new hostel on his latest visit to the university, where lack of sufficient accommodation has for long been a problem. Singh also inspected the site where the new hostel for the Northeastern students will be built. The project is set to start in December and would be complete by 2017.
This hostel, first of the three hostels planned for students from the Northeast, will be funded by the Development of North Eastern Region Ministry (DoNER). A statement issued by Singh said, “Construction work for JNU hostel is expected to begin in December. There is also a proposal for two more hostels in Delhi University campus of Ramanujan College and also in Hindu college premises. There is an alternative proposal recently sent to the vice chancellor of DU wherein, instead of constructing two hostels at different sites like Ramanujan College or Hindu College, a common plot of land can be acquired at a location convenient to all and a large hostel complex can be developed there.”
This hostel, first of the three hostels planned for students from the Northeast, will be funded by the Development of North Eastern Region Ministry (DoNER). DoNER has allotted Rs 40 cr for the project, according to JNU joint secretary Saurabh Sharma.
“The new hostel for Northeastern students will be built near the Chandrabagaha Hostel, and this has been made possible as a fund of Rs 40 crore was allotted by the DoNER Ministry in January,” said Saurabh Kumar Sharma, Joint secretary in the JNU Student’s Union. The ABVP leader, who made news after he managed to win a seat in the left-dominated student’s union, said that it was because of the unending efforts of the ABVP’s JNU unit that Singh visited the university and announced the new hostel.
“Since the funds were granted in January, we had been writing to the ministry for the construction of hostels,” Sharma said. On being asked if he has received support from other left wing party members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union, he replied in the negative.
Though the site for the hostel was finalised in 2013, it took a long time to get the permit from the forest department. The hostel will have 210 rooms and a dining hall will be built to accommodate 270 students. It will also have two common rooms and four warden flats.
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