DCW summons Hindu College principal over girls hostel fees

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday issued a summons to the principal of Hindu College over the issue of exorbitant hostel fees being charged for girl students.

The Commission had earlier issued notice to the College on February 17, after acting on a complaint filed by an NGO Pinjra Tod Foundation. The principal Dr Anju Srivastava has been asked for a detailed report, explaining the situation with respect to hostel fees and hostel rules for girl's hostel along with relevant documents.

In its reply, the College had mentioned that the hostel fee was higher as it was constructed without the financial assistance of University Grants Commission and had mentioned that steps were being to reduce the disparity in fees.

In the summons letter, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal stated that there was no rectification that was initiated and the girl students continued to be charged higher.

The Commission also asked the principal to enumerate the steps taken by the college authorities so as to ensure hostel fees for girls at par with that of boys.

Replies have also been sought from the College over measures taken to ensure non-discriminatory hostel rules for girls at par with that of boys.

The DCW Chairperson later wrote to the UGC and gave a detailed list of Delhi University colleges which – due to pending issues with the higher educational body – were unable to construct hostels for girl students and/or ensure parity in fee structure for girls and boys.

The colleges named in the letter include Hindu College, Daulat Ram College, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, Shivaji College and Deshbandhu College.

The DCW Chief also sought an appointment with the UGC chairperson on the issue in the coming weeks to resolve the prevailing issues in the University.