Minority Hostel for Boys wallowing in neglect at Rajendra Nagar

Rangareddy: In the absence of proper patronage during the last several years, a few of the minority hostels being run by the Minority Welfare Department in the Rangareddy district have turned into haunted houses, as the students are least preferring to stay in the facilities due to want of proper facilities.

One of them is the Minorities Hostel for Boys Rajendra Nagar in Rangareddy district, established under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) Project almost sixteen years ago. Empty rooms, no kitchen facility, and a lack of boundary wall, besides missing sanitary arrangements, left the hostel completely abandoned and with a complete deserted look.

With a fund spend of over Rs 2.10 crore; the hostel structure at Rajendra Nagar was completed in 2018 with a fund sharing ratio of 50:50 between the State and the Central government under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PJVK). It was located next to the Mandal Revenue Office in Rajendra Nagar, with the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) on the opposite side.

The minority institution was launched in 2008 to provide an appropriate shelter to students mainly from districts and pursuing their studies in the city area. It has a total of 31 rooms, of which only 10 have been accommodated so far, while the remaining are vacant. Besides, there is no kitchen facility in the hostel, while the same was in provision at the time of the inauguration. The room meant for the kitchen was found empty of the required vessels, while the inmates were forced to arrange the food from outside or cook on their own.

Affirming the same, the warden on outsourcing said, “The mess charges of Rs 1,500 are being provided to the inmates as there is no kitchen facility in the hostel. However, these charges were also pending for several months.” Apart from this, he said, having no bus facility close to the hostel being run by the Minority Welfare Department also pushes the students away from choosing the facility for accommodation.

Earlier, the warden said there were a sufficient number of inmates in the hotel when it was running in a rented space at Langer House area two years ago. However, the strength dropped from 50 to 10 after the facility shifted to Rajendra Nagar, as most of the students chose to stay away from the hostel as there is no proper bus facility here to reach the city on time.

What is more interesting is that the two different boards erected within the premises of the hostel leaves everyone guessing about the stark contrast between the date of approval of the project, the completion of the structure, and its formal inauguration.

While one of the boards erected on the premises of the facility says the project was sanctioned in 2016 and took complete shape in 2018. However, another plate fixed just a few meters away in the same premises has a mention of 23-01-2008 as a date of inauguration.

While the less-supervised hostel wears a deserted look due to a lack of proper sanitary arrangements, the cattle were found grazing and unwinding in the premises.

It is learnt that the facility is often being used to store the ballot boxes, as only EVMs are being in use during the elections. The recent visit of the former collector, Bharathi Hollikeri, IAS, could not help the hostel win the desired attention of the officials since most of the rooms are empty and sanitary arrangements take a complete back seat at the facility.