Bhim Rao Ambedkar welfare hostel in Gaya. Telegraph picture

Gaya, June 24: The welfare hostels constructed in the town and at some block headquarters in Gaya district aimed at providing accommodation to underprivileged students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC and ST) are in a state of despair, thanks to the apathy of the authorities.

Of the total 12 hostels, three located in Gaya Town are overcrowded. The other nine set up at different block headquarters have either been closed or abandoned. The students living in the three hostels in Gaya Town have been facing shortage of power and water besides poor sanitation for years. The buildings are in a dilapidated state and need urgent repair.

The hostels, which were earlier known as Rajkiya Kalyan Chhatrawaas (government welfare hostel), have now been renamed as Bhim Rao Ambedkar Kalyan Chhatrawaas (Bhim Rao Ambedkar welfare hostel). Among the three buildings, one was meant for girl students. However, all the rooms have been occupied by male students.

In all, there are 64 rooms and three common rooms in the three buildings. The sanctioned strength of the three hostels together is 200. However, more than 500 students are staying there at present. In some rooms, 10 to 15 students are living at a time.

Another building is being constructed on the same campus and that has 48 rooms, including 16 rooms each on ground, first and the second floors. Construction of this building started in 2008 and is yet to be completed.

Nirjay Kumar, a student of bachelor of business management at Gaya College, told The Telegraph that there had been no power supply at the hostel for the past one month. The students are forced to study in the light of lantern or candles. The students, in fact, have collected money and hired a generator set, which they use to operate the water pump motor and get drinking water.

District welfare officer (DWO) Gyan Krishna Keoliyar told The Telegraph that a power transformer had been sanctioned for the three hostels on the campus itself. The welfare department has handed over a demand draft of Rs 2.42 lakh to Bihar State Electricity Board but the transformer has not been installed so far. The board authorities are now asking for Rs 46,000 more to install the transformer. Three borewells were sunk on the campus to provide water facility to the students. But since the area falls in a zone where the underground water depletes drastically during the summer months, none of the three hand pumps work. Now, two more borings have been sunk and a motor pump has been installed to fill up the water tanks on the premises.

The DWO admitted that the building of girls’ hostel was not in a good condition. “There is a plan to dismantle the building and begin fresh construction,” the DWO said.

Among other hostels constructed in different parts of the district, three at Gurua and Konch and Sherghati have been closed. At the other six hostels at Bankebazaar, Dumaria, Paraiya, Fatehpur, Tandwa and Tekari, the occupancy is very low.