After years of agitation, the demand for a hostel to accommodate women students of Ernakulam Government Law College is set to become a reality in the new year.
According to MLA Hibi Eden, the renovated hostel building will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on January 16.
Works on the building, carried out with Rs. 50 lakh allotted under the Legislative Assembly Constituency Asset Development Fund, are in final stages and it will be handed over to the college authorities by December 20.
“The only works that remain to be completed are the laying of tiles in the front yard and the installation of water tanks. The purchase of furniture and other utensils will be made from the College Development Committee (CDC) fund,” the MLA said.
The deadlock over appointment of staff to the hostel was resolved recently with the Higher Education Department issuing an order permitting the college authority to hire Kudumbasree personnel to operate the hostel mess and two ex-servicemen as security guards. The order also provides for the appointment a lady staff from the college as the hostel warden, in addition to a warden from the Kudumbasree.
Meanwhile, official sources maintained that there was lack of clarity as to who would fund the day-to-day running of the hostel, including the mess.
“Further, there is also confusion over the appointments from outside to run the hostel,” they added.
The MLA, however, pointed that he had received an assurance from the Education minister P.K. Abdu Rabb that they would make contributions to the CDC fund so as to meet the day-to-day expenses of hostel’s functioning on campus.
Recently, students of the college went on a strike demanding the completion of work and appointment of matron, cook and watchman for the hostel.
The protests were withdrawn later after an assurance from the MLA that their demands would be met.
“Of the 250-odd female students in the college, nearly a hundred of them stay in hostels. They are dependent on private hostels and paying guest facilities that are not only expensive but also insecure,” said Sethuraj K., a final year student in the college.
