Ravenshaw University to construct hostel for research scholars

CUTTACK: Ravenshaw University will soon have a special hostel for students pursuing PhD in the varsity.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the project and the varsity authorities will soon start construction of the hostel. Vice chancellor of the university, Ishan Patro said a hostel for the research scholars was a long standing need of the institution. Patro said that Ravenshaw will be the first university in the state to have an exclusive hostel for its research scholars.

Authorities are presently busy in preparing detailed project report for construction of the hostel. "A state -of-the-art hostel will be created for research scholars. The PhD students will have individual rooms and Wi-Fi facility in the hostel so that they can do their research work without any hindrance," said Patro. The hostel will have 100 beds, wherein 50 boys and 50 girl students will be accommodated."If required we would increase the bed strength in the hostel," added Patro.

Authorities have plans to start construction of the hostel within a month and complete the structure by next academic session

Notably, as there is no specific hostel for the PhD students, the authorities have to accommodate them in the hostels meant for undergraduate and post-graduate students. And this created tussle between the junior and senior students. Recently in July, the inmates of East hostel staged hunger strike on the campus opposing allocation of rooms in the hostel to PhD students.

The agitating undergraduate students alleged that presence of research scholars, who teach them, in their hostel creates inconvenience for them. After this episode, the university authorities had written letter to the state government seeking funds for construction of a hostel for PhD students and subsequently funds were allocated for the project.

The research scholar students have also welcomed the move. "We were facing lot of difficulty in absence of hostels. Sharing rooms with undergraduate and postgraduate students created problems for us and them. All these issues will be resolved after the new hostel," said S K Das, a research scholar.