Welfare hostel inmates plight heart-rending

Musheerabad: National president of BC Welfare Association R Krishnaiah met Secretaries of Finance and Welfare Departments at the Secretariat on Wednesday and urged them to release the pending arrears for maintenance of SC/ST/BC welfare hostels in the state.Speaking to media, he expressed anguish over delay in releasing mess charges for welfare hostels in the state for the past seven months.

 About 2.9 lakh students in welfare hostels had been facing severe hardships as mess charges on account of this inordinate delay, he said.  “How can hostels provide meals to students if the mess charges bills are not paid for seven months?” he questioned. Hostels are facing difficult times as shopkeepers who supply food items had stopped supplying materials as dues were not paid. Wardens were being forced to take debts to run the hostels, he said. 

Krishnaiah flayed the government for keeping as many as 1,178 warden posts and 1,600 worker posts vacant for the last five years, which led to worsening conditions in hostels. He rued that students were not able to go to their colleges in time as food was not prepared in time in hostels. Electricity bills worth Rs 8 crore had also been kept pending for the past 12 months and electricity department was disconnecting power to hostels.

“How can students prepare for exams if the power is disconnected?" he questioned. Even the building owners of the hostels had not received rents for several months, he pointed out. He also stated that hostel students were not paid cosmetic charges and they were facing difficulties as they could not buy soaps and oils. He learnt of their plight as several inmates of in SC/ST/BC hostels met him at BC Bhavan and explained their travails to them.