Nowhere to go, but BU asks students to vacate hostels

Nowhere to go, but BU asks students to vacate hostels

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal: 08.01.2021

Around a dozen students who have been living in the hostels of Barkatullah University have been asked to vacate the accommodation. Students are in a fix as they are not able to get rooms in hostels outside the campus as they are closed. A BU official said that as per the government order, they can't allow students to stay in the hostels.

After the lockdown was imposed due to the pandemic, several students who had been staying in BU hostels, stocked up.

BU authorities then temporarily allowed these students to stay in the hostel. After the Unlock process begun, these students could not go back as they were attending online classes from the hostels. A students said, “We’ve been living in the hostel since March 25 when the lockdown was imposed. We have been following the Covid-19 norms. Now, the exams are to be organised and BU has asked us to vacate the hostel. We have searched for other hostels in the state capital, but due to Covid, they are closed. In such situation, where do we go?” said a student.

One of the students said that for the past 10 months, no one had tested positive in the hostel as the students were following all the norms. “I am not able to understand the reason of ask us to move out of the hostel when the situation is getting normal. The exam date could be announced on any given day and, if we go back, this will be an unnecessary exercise and a wastage of time. We have requested the university to consider our situation and allow us to continue in the hostels till the exams are over,” said another student who preferred to remain anonymous.

Most of the students living in the hostel belong to the other states. “We know that the state government has ask the university to close the hostel. We are only a few students living in the hostel and following the Covid-19 norms. At least for humanity, please do not throw us out of the hostel,” said another student.

When contacted BU's registrar Ajeet Shrivastava told TOI that they are only following the government orders. “These students had the opportunity to leave the hostel after the Unlock process started. However, they prefer to stay back. As the state government has asked the university to close down the hostel, we cannot allow the students to to continue their stay,” said Shrivastava.

He added that BU is bound to follow the government orders.

A BU hostel