Mumbai, Oct. 29 -- Students of three prominent government educational institutes in the city - Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Government Law College (GLC) and the Government Polytechnic in Bandra - are up in arms over poor infrastructure, lack of academic support and basic facilities such as provision of water in hostels. In September, VJTI students wrote to the college authorities highlighting the poor condition of its three hostels, which house around 1,200 male and female students. According to students, several rooms had developed cracks, the hostel buildings were dilapidated and safety nets had been installed at some locations to prevent injuries due to falling plaster or debris. Speaking with HT, students said the hostel buildings were nearly 60 years old and needed urgent repairs. "Despite paying a hostel development fee, we do not get proper facilities. We worked hard to secure admission to this college, but the hostel conditions are disappointing," a student said, requesting anonymity. Students from different parts of Maharashtra depend on hostels as they cannot afford the high cost of living in Mumbai, the student added. A senior official from the higher and technical education department said that following complaints from students, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil chaired a review meeting and issued relevant directions. "The government has approved a proposal to construct new boys' and girls' hostels to meet the growing demand. It has also assured students that a proposal to fill vacant posts at the institute will be approved within a week," the official said. Students at Government Polytechnic, Bandra, have been grappling with academic delays, water shortage and lack of hostel facilities for the past four years. Students from the computer, instrumentation, civil and mechanical engineering streams also said that some portions of their syllabi remained incomplete, while practicals and site visits were pending. On Monday, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest inside the principal's office, demanding urgent action on students' demands. "The struggle for students' legitimate demands, which has been ongoing since March, has finally gained momentum. ABVP will continue to fight for students' issues and provision of essential facilities and to end mismanagement in the college," said Abhishek Pawar, Mumbai Mahanagar Mantri, ABVP. Pramod Naik, director of technical education, said water was being supplied to the college through tankers after the issue was raised with the minister. He also said that hostel construction was underway. GLC students launched the 'Save GLC' campaign around three months ago, to raise various issues affecting their studies and facilities on campus, such as adequate teaching staff and better academic support. Students said that the absence of regular lectures was affecting their academic progress and sought appointment of full-time lecturers to ensure that syllabi is completed on time. They also raised concern over errors in exam results and delays in receiving marksheets. Shivkumar Ade, former president, NSUI-GLC Mumbai, said, "NSUI is deeply concerned about the administrative and academic issues at GLC. We strongly support the Save GLC campaign." Milind Sathe, Advocate General of Maharashtra and a member of the GLC governing council, said, "We haven't received any complaint letter from students. If we receive any such letter, we will take cognizance."...