Special hostels planned for N-E students in Karnataka

As part of confidence building measure for students and professionals of the North-East living in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the North Eastern Council (NEC) has decided to build hostels in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Mysore.

Constituted by Parliament in 1971, the NEC is the nodal agency for economic and social development of the region consisting of eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

“We are building a 1,700-seater hostel for both boys and girls in Bangalore in collaboration with the University of Bangalore,” NEC secretary U K Sangma told reporters on Monday.

The hostel for students studying in various colleges affiliated to the university would be built at its Jnana Bharathi Campus, he said.

The university would have special security arrangement for N-E students, said the university’s registrar, Mylarappa.

The varsity currently has 9,000 students from N-E, mostly from Manipur, in about 200 colleges affiliated to it.

Apart from Bangalore, the NEC has expressed its desire to build hostels in Mumbai, Pune and Mysore.

He said the NEC has initiated works on construction of a 500-seater girls’ hostel in Delhi University in collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

While a 501-seated working women’s hostel was also constructed at Jasola, Delhi, in association with the Ministry of Women & Child Development at a cost of Rs 17.44 crore, a 70-seater students’ home for women was built at B B Marg, Delhi.

A 500-seater women’s hostel at South Campus of the Delhi University for N-E students is under consideration, he said.

A North East Cultural Centre was set up in Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi, to make people aware of the cultural heritage of N-E states.