A PU spokesperson says that the issue is under active consideration of the university. (File) A transgender student pursuing Masters from Panjab University (PU) has been fighting a battle for the last nine months, just to get a hostel room at PU. The PU authorities stated that “the issue is under active consideration”.
Speaking with The Indian Express, Yashika explained her ordeal about how she doesn’t have any financial resources or support system.
Yashika also talked about how she was staying at a guest house on the campus at Rajiv Gandhi College Bhawan, as she hasn’t been allocated a room yet. She used to live with a friend after her parents deserted her.
“I am from Saharanpur and got admission in Panjab University for MA in Human Rights and duties at full fee concession in October 2021. I sent my first request for allocation of a hostel room via email to the Vice Chancellor, Dean Student Welfare and Registrar of the university on September 28 last year. I also wrote to the Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner about the same on October 10 as well,” she said.
Getting no response, she again wrote to the Additional Deputy Commissioner on October 19 but in vain.
On December 1, she wrote to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
A ray of hope kindled as the ministry marked the letter seeking reply from the university. The university authorities, however, in their reply on December 16 last year, informed the ministry that they have formed a committee to resolve the issue.
Additionally, on December 2, 2021, Yashika also sent an email to the university drawing their attention to set up a gender-neutral hostel, considering the challenges she was facing.
“The university authorities called me and told me verbally that there was no provision as they couldn’t make a room available in the hostel for women too. I requested them to make a separate block for transgenders and they didn’t do anything about that,” Yashika said.
It became tougher as Yashika got to know that offline classes were beginning from March 4, 2022. She wrote twice to the university authorities on February 7 and February 14 this year to inquire about the result of the committee proceedings, as she hadn’t got a response and the offline classes had started.
After getting no response from the university and exhausted over the inaction, Yashika began a protest outside VC office on March 15 with the support of few student bodies.
A few professors reached the protest site to pacify her. After negotiations, she agreed to accept a guest room at the campus as a temporary accommodation along with the assurance that the hostel would be allotted the next day.
But till date, no room has been allotted to her. A PU spokesperson told The Indian Express, “The issue is under active consideration of the Panjab University.”
Trying to help her out, the Panjab Feminists Union of Students sent a memorandum to the university authorities (VC, DSW, DUI, Registrar) and also tried to garner support in Yashika’s favour asking student bodies to gather outside the VC’s office.
“The authorities have been unresponsive and insensitive throughout Yashika’s struggle for fair accommodation and consequently, education. In continuation of this blatantly transphobic conduct, the university ignored our appeal for accommodation. The conduct of university authorities is unconstitutional, arbitrary and against the landmark judgement of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India 2014,” the organisation said. Apart from immediate hostel accommodation for Yashika, the organisation has demanded setting up a queer committee with a 50 per cent queer representation and the establishment of a mechanism for ease of accessibility of university resources for transstudents.
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