Students in Mangaluru are being allotted accommodation in hostels located far from their colleges, creating travel difficulties and potentially affecting their access to education, according to concerns raised at a Mangaluru taluk panchayat review meeting. MLA Y Bharath Shetty directed officials to address the issue while chairing the second quarterly KDP progress review meeting on Wednesday.
The hostels are operated or allocated through the Department of Backward Classes Welfare and the Social Welfare Department. Shetty said students should not be placed in accommodation that makes daily travel to college difficult.
He directed the departments to consider the distance between the hostel and the college, as well as available transport facilities, while allotting seats. The objective, he said, should be to ensure that students receive suitable conditions for quality education and that their academic progress is not affected by travel-related difficulties.
The report does not specify the number of students affected, the hostels involved, the distances they travel or whether any changes to hostel allocations have already been approved. It also does not state whether additional transport arrangements are being considered.
The meeting also reviewed public health and civic concerns in Mangaluru. Officials were asked to take preventive measures against malaria and dengue in densely populated neighbourhoods and areas with a high concentration of migrant workers. Departments were directed to coordinate during the implementation of disease-control measures.
Shetty further instructed officials to ensure that residents benefit from health camps and other public-health programmes. He called for greater awareness of the Ayush Department’s Vayomitra, health camp and Ayurvidya initiatives.
The meeting also discussed increasing stray dog activity around residential areas and schools. Officials were directed to take steps for sterilising stray dogs. Mangaluru taluk panchayat chief executive officer Mahesh Holla, planning officer Sukanya and administrative officer Shakuntala Shenoy attended the meeting. The next steps on hostel allocation and student travel arrangements were not specified in the report.
