DU hosteliers face gender bias

Gender equality in DU? Far out! At least not in colleges which have hostels for both male and female students!

Gender equality in DU? Far out! At least not in colleges which have hostels for both male and female students! In the past few years, several co-ed colleges in DU have come up with hostels for both sexes in what seems to be a step towards gender equality.

But when it comes to rules, residents of the fairer sex are seldom treated as leniently as their male counterparts. Ramjas, Stephens and SRCC are the three north campus colleges, which offer residential facilities for both boys and girls.

But if you are part of the college hostel do not think you will have it as easy as the male residents. In all the colleges, there is separate section of ‘special rules’ that the girls have to follow.

In Ramjas hostel for instance, a roll call is taken every evening to check for attendance of the residents. While there is no specific curfew for the male students, girls have to be back by 7-7.30 pm in most places.

If a girl stays out later than that, she has to be accompanied by her local guardian on her way back. The number of night outs allowed in most colleges are a maximum of 4-5, but that too after permission from parents or local guardians.

The male residents are blissfully unaware of such restrictions. “Night outs are only allowed in the places that the parents have specified earlier, along with their addresses and phone numbers. We can also call and check whether a student has gone to the specified place or elsewhere,” said DR Shashi Bala, Hostel Warden, Ramjas College.

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