M M Jasim/Abir Rayhan :
Most of the single rooms of Dhaka University halls are under the illegal occupation of the leaders and the workers of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and the outsiders close to them, and as a resuslt the general students have been compelled to lay their beds in common rooms, verandahs, roofs and even canteens.
But no attempt has yet been seen to allocate the rooms legally to the genuine students by the hall authorities. On the other hand, though most of the house tutors do not perform their duties, they take all the facilities from the University in the name of taking care of the students.
The general students alleged that huge number of outsiders are staying in the halls under the shelter of the BCL leaders.
A residential student of Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall wishing anonymity told The New Nation that the BCL leaders forced him to leave his single room.
At least 90 percent single rooms of the Salimullah Muslim Hall, Shahidullah Hall, Jagannath Hall, Amar Ekushey Hall, Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall, Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall, Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall, Surya Sen Hall, Kabi Jasimuddin Hall, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall and Sir AF Rahman Hall are under illegal occupation.
The 11 dorms have a capacity of accommodating 7,437 students, but in reality, as many as 13,800 people live there, according to BCL units of the dorms and resident students.
The Dhaka University authorities don’t even have any data or list of students staying in the residential halls.
According to the hall offices, the 11 halls have a total of 2,777 rooms. Of them, 807 are single-bed rooms and 1,970 are two-bed, three-bed, four-bed and five-bed rooms.
Visiting the dorms, this reporter found 489 single-bed rooms occupied by BCL leaders and outsiders. Approximately 1,980 outsiders, besides general students, occupy the remaining 978 rooms.
There are 30 students in the 93 common rooms each, designed to actually accommodate four or five students each. There are 2,475 such students in the halls.
Instead of the DU authorities, it is the BCL which allocates accommodation to the freshers in the DU halls and uses them for their petty political purposes.
Most of the Provosts of DU’s residential halls said, they are helpless about this matter.
A Provost seeking anonymity told The New Nation, “We are helpless. We are unable to allocate seats according to the rules and regulations. If we want to do that, the BCL leaders put pressure on us and started shouting.”
But the BCL President Abid al-Hassan of the DU unit rejected the accusation and said that the BCL played no role in allotting seats in the University dormitories, claiming the hall authorities do the job.
The students of the 2009-10 session in DU have completed their Masters. The students of the 2010-11 session are waiting for their results. That means the students of the 2010-11 session are the most senior residents of the halls.
However, many are still residing in the halls after completing their sessions six or seven years ago. Many are staying in the halls along with a number of outsiders for a long time, though they have completed their studies and got jobs elsewhere.
Many of the hall officials accused the teachers for such harassment of the students in the halls. They said, the hall Provost and the House tutors are never available. The halls are run by the leaders and activists of the student organisations.
Bangabandhu Hall administrative officer Mozaffar Ali Fakir said, “Earlier, the house tutors use to visit the rooms on a regular basis. None of them is now available.”
Asked about the conditions of the University halls, DU Vice-Chancellor Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique advised the reporters to talk to the hall Proctors.
Stressing the need for more dormitories for the University students, the VC said, “It is also not possible to accommodate all the students when the number of seats is inadequate.”
