Bhubaneswar, July 26: Boarders of Utkal University women's hostels surrounded the vice-chancellor's office today protesting against the lack of basic facilities.
Around 120 boarders of the Sailabala Hostel demonstrated with buckets complaining about irregular water and power supply at the hostel.
The students later surrounded vice-chancellor Ashok Das and said that in spite of repeated complaints, the hostel authorities have not taken any action. The girls have also submitted a written complaint to the superintendent of the hostel.
"We have been doing without water in our hostel for the past two days and need to go to other hostels for our daily needs. Also, power cuts happen almost daily and we are not able to study," said Lucky Sahu, a student.
The agitation came to an end after PG council chairman R.K. Bal promised to fix the water problem by tonight.
The vice-chancellor said: "Work has already started on replacing old electricity wires at the hostel and this will address the issue of power cuts."
Utkal University has six hostels for girls - Kuntala Kumari Chatrinivas with a capacity of 180 beds, Ramadevi Chatrinivas with 234 beds, Sarala Devi Chatrinivas with 92 beds, Malati Devi Chatrinivas with a capacity of 100 beds and Ladies Hostel No. 5 with 502 beds.
Sources said chief minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to visit the campus on August 1 to inaugurate a number of facilities including a new hostel.
But students are apprehensive. "Until the prevailing problems are solved, there is no point building more hostels. We are not even provided basic amenities," said Anuradha, another student.
A group of students from Rama Devi Women's University staged similar protests. They alleged that trespassers were entering the varsity posing a security threat to the hostel boarders.
Itishree Mallick, one of the protesting students, said: "We have submitted a written complaint to the V-C about the security concerns. The campus has become unsafe as boys linger on the premises making us feel uncomfortable."
The authorities had assured the students yesterday that a register would be maintained at both the entrances and the problem of boys loitering on the campus would be checked.
