Assam: Gauhati University seeks to reopen hostels for new students in January

Guwahati: Amidst threats of the ongoing Covid pandemic, Assam's Gauhati University (GU) has decided to open its residential hostels for new students in January. As per reports, Gauhati University officials have invited online applications from newly-enrolled students of the new academic year, to apply for hostel accommodation. As the university prepares for assigning hostel seats and resuming accommodation processes from January, the deadline for the said online application is kept until midnight of December 31.

Notably, this decision of Gauhati University comes despite the newly issued SOP of the state education department which clearly prohibits reopening of residential hostels in the state. Officials of GU said that the university hostels have already been functioning for the final year students as per the Covid protocols enforced by the state government. The current online application is only invited from the first semester students enrolled in different Bachelors and Postgraduate courses in the university. No clear details regarding the intermediate semester students have been mentioned thus far by the officials.

A total of 23 student hostels are provided for accommodating students by Gauhati University. Speaking of their January date for reopening hostels, an official of GU said that the university administration is willing to reopen hostels, especially when normalcy has returned everywhere. At a point when political meetings are organised in presence of hundreds of people, there is no point in depriving students of their education and restricting their entry to hostels. 

Further emphasising the plight of the students, the official went on to inform that a lot of students from Gauhati University who live around Guwahati have been attending regular classes in campus but because of the closure of hostels, they have resorted to living in PG and rented accommodations. Reportedly, no decision has yet been taken for the reopening of colleges affiliated to GU.

It is worth mentioning that the closure of all private and public hostels and accommodation arrangements has severely affected continued and regular education in schools, colleges and universities. The need to reopen hostels for regular classes is especially necessary since many students reside in places with poor network connectivity. 

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