In one of the premier institutions of Valley at University of Kashmir (KU), the officials are being availed with all types of heating facilities amid the bone-chilling winters while its more than 900 female boarders of the hostels ‘sans’ the facilities.
The boarders of hostels of the University said that the four hostels for females are functioning with only two transformers that cause them to stay without heating arrangement for majority of the time.
They said that instead of fixing the issue, the concerned wardens of all the hostels and the concerned higher ups are threatening the boarders not to report the issue to the Vice-chancellor.
One of the boarders of Qurat-Ul-Ain hostel wishing anonymity told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), “Besides having the issues of heating arrangements, several window panes of the hostel are broken and when we requested the warden to fix them much before the winter, they paid no heed to it.”
Another female boarder student of the varsity said, “Sometimes, the hostel authorities deliberately cut the electricity during evening hours to avoid use of heating gadgets.”
“Sometimes, we are being told that we can use one electric blower and electric kettles each in a room and sometimes they are frisking our rooms and taking away those gadgets,” she said.
She also said, “From last year, we were only allowed to use electric blankets but unfortunately, the electricity doesn’t last for a long time due to the shortage of transformers.”
The students also said that many boarders have fallen ill because of the bone-chilling cold and some of them have returned to their homes.
“Most of the boarders have left for their homes due to non-availability of facilities. If our issues are not resolved immediately, we will protest in university Campus,” they added,” the students said.
In the meantime, Girls Hostel Provost, Professor Zahida Jabeen said that some of the female boarders were using an excessive heating gadget that was causing damage to the transformers.
“We have only two transformers for all four female hostels of the University. We try to repair and maintain them immediately if there is any damage due to the overload,” she said.
“The respective wardens have been regularly asking the boarders not to use more than one electric blower and a kettle in one room, but they never responded positively,” she said.
Jabeen said, “We have sent a proposal to the Vice Chancellor for adding more transformers and I hope we will get it soon.”
The provost further said that the hostel management has allowed us to use one electric blower and a kettle in a room. “We have also allowed the students to use their respective electric blankets.”—(KNO)