Panjab University (PU) will provide free of cost accommodation to a transgender student at the working women’s hostel, as per a recent communication from dean students’ welfare (DSW) Jagtar Singh to chairman of transgender welfare board-cum-additional deputy commisioner, UT administration.
Mess facility will also be available to the student, Yashika, who is pursuing a master’s degree at the university’s Centre for Human Rights and Duties. Yashika was on the merit list of students eligible for a hostel room, but was not allocated one in the absence of a policy regarding hostel allotment for transgender students.
The student had even lodged a protest at the varsity earlier this year, before approaching the Punjab and Haryana high court. Yashika had been temporarily accommodated at the faculty guest house on campus.