Students oppose shifting to Thanakkankulam hostel

Say it will be difficult to commute from there to the city daily

Against the move: College-going students from Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Hostel on Race Course Road in Madurai staging a sit-in protest in front of the hostel on Monday.

A group of boys, attending college from the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department (ADTW) hostel on Race Course Road here, submitted a petition to Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao on Monday against the decision to shift them to a new hostel in Thanakkankulam, more than 10 km away from the city.

The boys, who returned from vacation on Monday, said that they were surprised by the notice put up at the hostel that they had been shifted.

The students, a majority of whom are studying undergraduate courses in Madurai Kamaraj University College (MKUC) and other colleges in the city, complained that it would be difficult to commute from Thanakkankulam daily.

“Some of us have special classes in the evenings. Some are also doing part-time jobs in hotels and other places in the evening to manage our expenses. It will be difficult to commute from Thanakkankulam daily,” G. Veeramani, a third-year commerce studentfrom MKUC, said.

They alleged that the hostel in Thanakkankulam lacked adequate bus facilities and they had to walk quite a distance to board a bus.

According to officials, the hostel in Thanakkankulam, constructed at a budget of ₹ 71 lakh, was originally meant for girls studying in Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). However, concerns were raised about the choice of place since it lacked transport and security and importantly no ITI was present nearby. The Hindu had reported in March, indicating how the building, constructed injudiciously at the place, was lying unused for more than a year.

An official from ADTW acknowledged on Monday that the college boys were asked to go to Thanakkankulam since it was not feasible to send girls there.

Though the Collector assured the students that bus passes and transport facilities would be arranged, the students attempted a sit-in protest at the Race Course hostel in the evening.

However, after negotiation with the ADTW officials, who assured them that they would be taken back once the Race Course Road hostel was renovated, the boys gave up the protest and agreed to go to Thanakkankulam.