Lack of grants from UGC led to hike in girls’ hostel fee: Hindu College to DCW

The college principal Dr Anju Srivastava said that while UGC was providing yearly grant of Rs 60 lakh for the boys’ hostel, no such amount was being given for the girls’ hostel

NEW DELHI: The officiating principal of Hindu College, Dr Anju Srivastava, on Wednesday replied to the summons letter sent to the college management by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) regarding disparity in hostel fee between girls and boys students.

In the justification, Dr Srivastava highlighted that while the UGC was providing a yearly grant of Rs 60 lakh for the boys’ hostel, no such amount was being given for the girls’ hostel.

The lack of grant, she said, resulted in the management charging higher fee from girls.

The principal stated that the hostel timing for boys and girls were, however, the same.

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal had highlighted discrimination at the College, cit- ing that while students at the boys’ hostel had to pay a fee of Rs 30,900, girl students had to pay double the amount for hostel accommodation at Rs 61,000.

Highlighting that this was major challenge, Maliwal had stated that she wanted to meet Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, so that she could discuss the issue and find the solution. Maliwal had earlier also written to the head of University Grants Commission (UGC) and given a detailed list of institutions which, due to pending issues with the higher education regulator, were unable to construct hostels for girl students.

“The government that has raised the slogan of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ must ensure that discrimination of this kind should be stopped,” said Maliwal.