Officials directed to adopt hostels to improve conditions

To bring in reforms in the functioning of the government run hostels in the district, taluk and district level officials have to adopt the hostels under their jurisdiction.

Following a heated debate over privileged motion on mismanagement at the hostels tabled by the member C T Rajanna, Zilla Panchayat President Pushpa Amarnath on Saturday ruled that the taluk and district level officials have to adopt the hostels of which they will hold charge. 

A meeting of wardens will also be convened in the next one week to elicit their opinions on improving the conditions of the hostels.

In case of recurrence of any such issues, it was decided to give a final warning to the officials by initiating severe action against them and making the deputy commissioner solely responsible for it.

As soon as the meeting was convened, Rajanna sought to know the enhancement in the funds allocated for food at the hostels, especially of Girijana Ashrama Schools in the district. He said, he had visited the same hostel thrice on different occasions, and found only rice and curry being served for the day.

Patel Jawaregowda, another member alleged that students were being badly treated in hostels. “During my visit to a hostel, I was really shocked to find that seven kg of rice had been prepared for 74 inmates present on the day, against the total strength of 177,” he said.

This led to a heated debate, with fellow members like C J Dwarkish and Suneetha Veerappagowda training their guns on the officials concerned. Another member Kalpana narrated her own unsavoury experience. “I was in a Backward Classes and Minorities hostel for three years. Unlike the hostels in bigger cities, the hostel inmates in other places had not even tasted butter milk and sometimes coffee too,” she said.

Total hostelsAccording to the ZP president, there are 16,132 inmates in 221 different hostels in the district, including Morarji Desai Model Residential Schools and Kittur Rani Channamma Residential Schools.

Among them, 86 hostels belong to Backward Classes and Minorities department, 85 are under Social Welfare department, and 46 Girijana Ashrama schools.