All is not well when it comes to sanitation in private residential colleges

VISAKHAPATNAM: Despite charging a fortune from the parents, the residential colleges appear to have failed in putting in place the required infrastructure when it comes to hygiene.

Students complain that repeated complaints about several issues particularly sanitation have fallen on the deaf ears.

“We have a sick room where students sleep when taken ill as they are not allowed to sleep in their rooms. If it is serious, they (college management) take us to hospital. But, we do not wish to go to the sick room which is infested with bedbugs. The blankets are not washed regularly,” says Radhika (name changed),  a first-year intermediate student of Sri Chaitanya College.With 14 students being accommodated in a room, it gets congested. A single rack is provided to each student, but no cupboard. So. the students keep their stuff in bags.

The situation in the boys’ residential campus is no different. The students allege that proper care is not being taken to maintain sanitation and many cases of students getting urinary infections were reported.

“We have a counsellor who comes every week and we can register complaints. Each time, they promise us to solve the issues, but to no avail. The common washrooms are cleaned regularly but for the sake. I suffered from urinary infections for many months,” says Dinesh (name changed), first-year intermediate student of Narayana Residential College.