Hostellers of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College The Hindu spoke to said that they were facing financial difficulties in paying hostel maintenance charges demanded by the college for the months of April, May and June. However, threatened with penalties and fearing backlash, they said, they hardly had a choice but to pay.
While the college authorities defended the move, students complained that it was unfair as most hostellers had vacated the premises before the beginning of April.
“My father has taken a loan to pay the fees” said Sanjay*, a second-year student from U.P. whose family’s hardware store has been shut since the beginning of the lockdown. “If not for the hostel, my father would not let me study in Delhi... I did not want to be thrown out,” he said.
Relaxation appeal
Following a notice to hostellers on April 7, asking them to pay ₹19,500 as part of the fourth quarter fee, which includes electricity, water, housekeeping and mess charges, students had written to the college principal, appealing for a relaxation. With mess charges removed, students were asked to pay a revised amount of ₹7,500, payable by May 11, failing which they were informed that they would be charged ₹50 per day as penalty for non-payment.
Sagar*, a second-year student, whose father had not been paid his salary for the last two months and is expecting a salary cut, said that he wrote to the college authority, asking for some relaxation, but was told to pay the fees and that reimbursement would be made at a later date.
Others such as third-year student Mohan*, son of a wheat farmer, said that he had written to the college but did not receive any reply. “We have paid our annual rent and developmental charges... on what basis are they asking for electricity and water charges?” he said.
Gopal’s* father, a production manager at a notebook factory, has not received his salary either. “My parents are saying they will arrange the money somehow. But why are they [college] doing this when almost no one has been living in the hostel?” he asked.
College Principal Hemchand Jain said that a sanitation worker is employed at the hostel and since at least eight students have stayed back, the charges for electricity, water and cleaning need to be paid. He said if people were facing financial crisis, the matter would be looked into before extending any relaxation, stressing that it could not be extended to all.
*names changed to protect identity
