BU hostel for North East students awaits inauguration

BENGALURU: Announced four years ago, the dedicated hostel for North Eastern women students studying in Bangalore University (BU) and its affiliated colleges, is finally ready. After missing a few deadlines, the construction is finally complete. However, it has not been opened to the public for use. The reason? The lack of a Union Minister who can come declare the building open.

KR Venugopal, vice-chancellor of BU said, “The hostel building is ready but we are waiting for someone from the centre to inaugurate it.We have written to the Prime Minister’s office and are expecting any minister, if not, Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of state, Development of North-Eastern Region to come down for the ceremony.”

The hostel in the Jnana Bharati, campus can accommodate around 500 students in its four floors. The idea was to provide safety for students coming from the North-East, after attacks on them took place back in Bengaluru back in 2014.

“The cuisine in the hostel mess will include food from the North East. We are hoping to inaugurate this before the election season, that is by end of February,” Venugopal added.

The North Eastern Council approached BU for construction of the hostel and sanctioned around `13.6 crore for its construction. It missed its deadlines of November and December 2018, followed by January 2019 as construction was ongoing. The four-storeyed hostel will be free of cost, and will include features such as CCTVs and 110 washrooms.