Illegal shops outside Darbhanga House in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, March 3: Postgraduate students of Patna University (PU) can perhaps be excused for low attendance. The dilapidated condition of Darbhanga House — where classes of the postgraduate and vocational courses take place — do not inspire one with the burning desire for knowledge.

Classes are conducted in the midst of broken floors, leaking ceilings, stinking drains and illegal cattle shed and shops. The assurance and promises made by the human resource development (HRD) department and PU administration about the renovation of Darbhanga House have remained unfulfilled.

The building that was once the Nav Lakha Palace of the Darbhanga royal family is in a shambles.

“The infrastructure has been in a bad condition for a long time. We do not even have safe drinking water facility. The toilets are also a mess,” said Swati Priya, a postgraduate student.

Most classes are taken in the dilapidated building, where students and teachers are always at great risk, said a source. Economics teacher N.K. Chaudhury said: “A number of courses, especially, vocational courses have been started but there has been no new construction or extension to accommodate the classes for these courses.”

Chaudhuri added: “In such a situation, there is a terrible rush to accommodate all the classes.”

Moreover, there is neither any common room for students nor staff room for teachers. Thus, the students and teachers have no option but to roam near the banks of Ganga when they do not have classes. A student said girls have to spend a lot of time in the open and this has led to an increasing number of eve-teasing cases, as there is hardly any security on campus.

Amit Jha, a management student, said outsiders enter freely to worship at the Kali temple on campus. This leads to overcrowding and students and teachers have no space to park their vehicles.

PU development officer Sanjay Kumar Sinha said: “The university has recently received funds for renovation of the Menon Block on Darbhanga House premises. Construction work was also on at Rani Block.”

Sinha added work was also on to remove the encroachers from outside the Darbhanga House.

The Darbhanga House was given to the university in the early 1950s by the kings of the Darbhanga royal family. The postgraduate classes of the varsity are being conducted here since 1957. Maharaj Kameshwar Singh Bahadur, who ruled Darbhanga Raj from 1929 to 1947 — when the state was merged with the Indian union, commissioned the construction of the building.