Row over St. Stephen’s hostel fine
Students term the latest notice ‘unfair’ especially at this time
The Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College has set a deadline of August 7 for hostellers to vacate their rooms, failing which they will be slapped with a penalty of `100 per day.
Students are unhappy with the latest notice, and said it is “unfair” especially at this time when they are stuck in their home towns due to the
Coronavirus pandemic.
College Principal John Varghese said the students have been sent repeated reminders since the beginning of July to vacate their rooms.
He said the college has to “fumigate” and “sanitise” the rooms for students who will be coming after the new session begins.
“Considering the ongoing pandemic, and the many requests submitted by resident junior members, students who are unable to vacate their rooms will be allowed to retain their rooms with a modest room rent charge of `100 per day starting from August 7, 2020,” a notice posted on the college website said.
“Resident Junior members are also hereby notified that, if and when the government gives the permission to reopen the residence facilities, all belongings and luggage will be moved a week prior to the date of residence reopening to facilitate necessary cleaning and renovations. In such occasion, the college will not be responsible for loss or damages,” the notice added.
Prior to this, another notice was issued to the students on June 23 asking them to vacate their rooms.
A hosteller, who is currently in West Bengal, said the college is being “unfair” and is charging almost double the amount of what they would usually pay for the room.
He left Delhi for his home town two days prior to March 9, when the mid-semester break started.
“The lockdown was announced and we were unable to come back to Delhi. Even in the current situation, it is not safe to travel. We usually pay `1,400 as the room rent for a month but going by the current rate, we will end up paying `3,000 for a month,” the student said on the condition of anonymity.