New Delhi, Sept. 16 -- A ceiling fan collapsing inside a room at Jawaharlal Nehru University's Tapti Hostel has once again raised questions over the safety and maintenance of student accommodation on the campus.
The incident took place in the night, when a ceiling fan fell inside a hostel room. No student was present at the time, according to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), which raised the issue in a statement on Wednesday.
The students' union alleged that the incident reflected a larger problem of inadequate maintenance of JNU's ageing infrastructure. It said that during a meeting with the JNUSU, the former Associate Dean of Students had stated that Tapti and Mahi Mandavi hostels had been declared unfit for accommodation. Despite this, students continued to be allotted rooms in the hostels, the union alleged.
The JNUSU said the problem extended beyond the two hostels, with students reporting leaking ceilings, crumbling walls and deteriorating infrastructure in classrooms and other parts of the campus.
JNUSU flagged poor maintenance at Teflas and sought a structural audit of hostels and university buildings, citing repeated complaints and long-standing infrastructure concerns raised through protests, petitions and hunger strikes.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.