GNDU students raise hostel mess food fee issue, again

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Amritsar, May 3

A section of hostellers at GNDU, have raised the issue of food fee being charged under the mandatory diet bill by the university.

Contractors have been serving sub-standard food and each student has to pay even if he has not eaten a single meal. This is the case with girls’ hostel as well. We have repeatedly requested the authorities to put a pay-per-meal system or even a waiver of mess fee in case a student doesn’t avail mess food service.— Aryan, A Law student

Students said whether they eat food served in the mess or not, they have to pay the bill, deeming it unjustified. Aryan, a law student, said students have to shell out Rs 1,150 every month for boys and Rs 1,000 for girls as hostel mess fee, which puts unnecessary burden on students from economically weaker section.

“Contractors have been serving sub-standard food and each student has to pay even if he has not eaten a single meal. This is the case with girls’ hostel as well. We have repeatedly requested the authorities to put a pay-per-meal system or even a waiver of mess fee in case a student doesn’t avail mess food service,” he said. He said the mess fee was raised by Rs 200 last year, while items in the menu have been reduced from 32 to 27. Another student of the same hostel said special diet, too, has been limited. “The special diet, for which every student has to pay Rs 60 additionally, is now served two-three times a month only and mostly the dessert is skipped in that as well,” he said. Students have also been complaining about the quality of food served.

The mess fee issue was raised by students last year as well, where they had submitted a letter to the Dean Student Welfare (DSW) and Registrar. Meanwhile, DSW Anish Dua said the university cannot change rules in the middle of the session.

“There’s no such issue. Some people are just trying to make an issue out of it. The service provider, in this case, the mess contractor, is offering service under due terms and conditions. In case of hostel fee, the university acts as a facilitator as the fee collected from students eventually goes to the contractor for his service. We have a food monitoring committee in place to check hygiene and quality of food being served to students,” he said.