PU likely to allot hostels online from new session

CHANDIGARH: Panjab University may finally start the allotment of hostels online from the coming session.
Sources said the guidelines for online allotment were being framed at present and the final call would be taken in a meeting to be held soon within a couple of days.
A notice has been sent to all the hostels in the university to get the accommodations vacated for the new entrants taking admissions this year.
Earlier, after getting admissions, a student would have to approach the chairperson of his department to check his eligibility for hostel accommodation as per the merit list.
He would also have to take the form from the university and fill it up and submit it manually, following which the warden would allot the room as per availability and merit list.
Due to shortage of seats in hostels, many students would not get the accommodation and would be put on the waiting list.
The offline procedure invited many protests from students who alleged that there was no transparency in allotment. They alleged that “favourites” were preferred in the allotment.
However, the university from this year may make the process online with students finding out their eligibility of accommodation as per the merit list during the admissions. They may also be able to apply online for allotment after the confirmation of admission.
The students at the university also said they wanted the process to made online and more transparent. Meanwhile, the disabled students of the university have said hostels should accommodate 100% of disabled students rather than assigning reservation to them.
“Earlier, it has happened that disabled students have been put on the waiting list for months after getting admission. They have been forced to stay in gurdwaras and other such shelter homes where they are not comfortable. We have requested that all the disabled students should be accommodated in hostels as soon as their admission is confirmed,” said Rimpi Arora, a disabled research scholar at the university.
At present, the university has eight hostels for boys and nine hostels for girls that can accommodate around 7,000 students, though the university has more than 16,000 studying at the campus. The remaining students either adjust in the occupied hostel rooms after permissions or are forced to stay outside the campus and pay high rent compared to the charges of PU hostels.