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Students ‘segregated’ at Daulat Ram hostel, HC told
The information was given to a bench of justice S Muralidhar and justice I S Mehta by two local commissioners (LCs), advocates Nandita Rao and Subham Mahajan, who were appointed by the court to inspect the hostel after students protested over the lack of basic facilities.
The Delhi high court was informed Monday that students with disability at the Daulat Ram College hostel were “segregated in the mess”, “made to sit on a separate table” and if they chose to sit with their friends, they were “scolded”.
The information was given to a bench of justice S Muralidhar and justice I S Mehta by two local commissioners (LCs), advocates Nandita Rao and Subham Mahajan, who were appointed by the court to inspect the hostel after students protested over the lack of basic facilities.
“The local commissioners were informed that students with disability were segregated in the mess and made to sit at a separate table. If they chose to sit with friends, they were scolded,” the report accessed by HT reads.
Hostel warden Kavita Singh denied the allegations and said, “The allegations are levelled by a handful of students under some influence. I do not want to comment on this further.”
During the last hearing, the court had directed the local commissioner to submit the inspection report. On Monday, the LCs informed the court that they had conducted a surprise inspection on March 14 and they also found that there was a shortage of toilets — there were just eight toilets for 200 students.
The report said of these eight toilets, four did not have water and they were in a state of disrepair. The girls also told the LCs that the washroom did not have lights, creating further problems for students.
“…we found the toilets in a very bad condition; the tiles, roof and taps were broken. No alternative water tank, flush arrangements was made available in the block that did not have water. ..The students informed us that often the geyser did not work for months and no alternative for hot water was provided from either the kitchen or immersion rods,” the report read.
Students also told the LCs that “the warden and the matron treated them without dignity”, with the word “dignity” figuring in the complaints of most girls. The report said the girls were kept waiting outside and all kinds of aspersions were cast on their character if they missed the deadline of 7.30pm to reach the hostel.
“Some girls complained that if they wore lipstick, the matron would make crude remarks and force them to remove it,” the report said, adding that the girls do not have any access to television the whole year.
The report also highlighted that the plates on which the food was served was “very small for meal purposes” and did not seem appropriate for young girls.
While Daulat Ram College principal Savita Rai declined comment, an official at the college said, “The students are being pressured by the warden appointed by the governing body to complain against the hostel administration.”
