To attain hostel accommodation one has to register either online or in person. After this, students have to run between the DSW office and the warden, for getting their permission. There seems to be no centralized process put in place.

According to the Rights of Disabled Persons Act of 2016, educational institutions are to “provide reasonable accommodation according to the individual’s requirements”.

Visually impaired students at Panjab university allege that they have to face a barrage of bureaucratic hurdles before attaining getting hostel facilities on the campus.

Uttam Verma, a visually impaired student pursuing a PhD in History at the university says he has been attempting to get accommodation on the campus, but to no avail. Recently, his application for a hostel room was approved by Dean of Student Welfare (DSW) Emanual Nahar, according to a letter signed by Nahar on November 25, which states that the student is “allowed to stay in Boys Hostel No 3 on guest basis”.

However, Verma claims that citing full occupancy, warden of Hostel No 3 Sanjeev Gautam has refused to allot him a hostel as of yet. “By guest basis, the DSW means I can stay in the hostel until my course work is completed which will be in about six months. However, despite the permission, the warden is yet to provide me with accommodation,” states Verma.

Warden Sanjeev Gautam says that he was ready to give a room to Verma and has sent him a message.
 

I guess Uttam hasn’t received my message yet,” says Warden Sanjeev Gautam adding that there is, however, no space for him in the hostel.

“I will adjust him in a room with another student. The occupancy of the hostel is about 450 and there are already around 485 students. It is hard to make room for more,” adds Gautam.

Verma, however, maintains that he has not received any notification from the warden regarding his approval. “The last time I spoke to him was on Wednesday, over the phone. Who did he send the message through? Also, he is never available in person. He barely comes for two minutes. For someone like me who is visually impaired on a campus that is not disabled-friendly, it is hard to rush from one place to another on a short notice,” says Verma.
 

To attain hostel accommodation one has to register either online or in person. After this, students have to run between the DSW office and the warden, for getting their permission. There seems to be no centralized process put in place.

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“It is hard for an abled person to do. Imagine what it is like for a disabled person?” says Dheeru, a visually impaired PhD student who received hostel accommodation a week ago, after a one-year struggle. “I had been going through the same struggles as Uttam. However, my department chairperson gave a call to the warden and demanded firmly that I get a room. Only then they gave me a room,” says Dheeru.

According to the Rights of Disabled Persons Act of 2016, educational institutions are to “provide reasonable accommodation according to the individual’s requirements”.

“We always prioritise disabled students and make space for them no matter what the occupancy level is. However, there have been a lot of disabled students, especially blind students who have refused to leave the hostel even after finishing their course .Some of them don’t even pay their bills,” says DSW Emanual Nahar adding that “not that we would discriminate against blind students because of these past incidents.”

“In other public universities such as JNU, disabled students are provided a hostel on arrival. Here I had to fill in my admission forms thrice because they found some errors. Now, I am going from place to place asking for a hostel,” claims Verma.

The Rights of Disabled Persons Act also states that educational institutions aided by the government are to reserve “not less than 5 per cent seats for person with benchmark disabilities”. Only four differently-abled students have been accommodated at student hostel 3, which has 484 students.

“I do not think these guidelines apply to hostels. So there is no violation there.” says Gautam.
There is so much hassle when one admits disabled students in the hostel. They need special care, and separate facilities, and rooms next to the bathroom. Unfortunately, we don’t have these facilities as of yet,” adds Gautam.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/panjab-university-for-visually-impaired-students-getting-hostel-accommodation-an-unending-struggle-6141954/