CCTVs in BU hostels to check illegal occupancy

There are over 2,000 students staying at Bangalore University’s hostels.

To check illegal occupancy and other unlawful activities in its hostels, the Bangalore University decided to install CCTV cameras and bio-metric attendance systems at the postgraduate and PhD hostels in the Jnana Bharati campus.

Illegal inmates and activities at the Bangalore University hostels are not new. Finally, now the authorities have decided to put an end to it.

For the ongoing counselling for postgraduate courses, the university informed the candidates seeking admission at the hostels to stick to the norms or else be rusticated anytime.

There are over seven hostel blocks at the Jnanabharati campus. Most hostels are overcrowded with illegal inmates even after the completion of the courses.

According to university officials, such students even threaten freshers and continue to stay in the hostels.

“This problem has been there for several years and unless we put a system in place, it would be difficult to provide space for newcomers. We have decided to install CCTV cameras in hostel corridors, which will help us identify those staying illegally,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor K R Venugopal.

“There is no place in the hostels for those who have completed their courses. We are installing bio-metric attendance systems at the entrance of the hostels,” explained Venugopal.

The rule applies to hostels housing men and women. Those who have secured places in the hostels must wear identity cards provided by the respective departments at the university.

“While entering and exiting, students must display their ID cards. This will help the warden identify the students,” Venugopal added.

When Dr N Prabhu Dev was the vice-chancellor, he raided the hostels and was shocked to see people serving at the police department, KAS officers and teachers staying illegally. His night-time raids revealed more severe instances such as students consuming alcohol, smoking and other illegal activities inside the premises.

However, this resulted in a series of protests against Dr Prabhu Dev and he was forced to roll back reforms in the hostel system.