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| Boys carry tiffin boxes to deliver at South Office Para. Picture by Hardeep Singh |
When you take the turn for South Office Para, advertisements written on the wall of St Xavier’s School tell you that hostel accommodation for girls is available in the area.
The locality has not only witnessed a rise in hostels, but also in other business opportunities.
Earlier, residents of the area had to go to the Doranda market for their daily needs.
Now, they can find everything at their doorstep—sweets, medicines, grocery, stationery and a phone booth. Even Internet parlours and banks with ATM facilities are now found here. Running hostels and supplying meals appear to be the most lucrative business here. Renowned schools like DAV, Shyamali, and DPS attract a large number of students from the state and neighbouring Bihar. But they do not have hostel facilities. As a result, students flock to this area for accommodation.
That is enough reason for a person with an extra flat to let it out to these students than to a regular tenant. This ensures more money as a tenant will pay a maximum of Rs 5,000, while each student has to pay around Rs 1,000. Each flat has a number of students staying in it.
Some people have even rented flats to run hostels, said residents. Since all such hostels or private lodges do not supply meals some have stepped in to fill in the gap. One such person, Bablu Verma, said he also supplies meals to people from outside the locality. He has delivery boys to carry the meal-boxes. Bablu was an unemployed youth who is currently earning his daily bread through the business of meal supply.
“My charges are moderate, only about Rs 600 per month,” he said, adding that the rate goes up to Rs 1,200 depending on the quality of meals.
Some housewives have also taken up this business to supplement their family’s income.
The area has also witnessed a proliferation of shops selling sweets and confectionery.
With a manifold rise in the locality’s population, shopkeepers certainly do not have much to complain about.
