St. Stephen's College to penalise hostellers `100 per day for not vacating rooms

New Delhi: The Delhi University's St. Stephen's College will be charging a penalty of Rs 100 per day from hostellers who will not vacate their rooms till August 7, a move that has upset many students.

Students are unhappy with the latest notice and said it is "unfair" to them especially at this time when they are stuck in their home towns.

According to college principal John Varghese, the students have been sent repeated reminders since the beginning of July and the college has to "fumigate" and "sanitise" the rooms for the students who will be coming after the new session begins.

"Considering the ongoing pandemic, and the many requests submitted by the resident junior members, students who are unable to vacate their rooms will be allowed to retain their rooms with a modest room rent charge of Rs 100 per day starting from August 7, 2020," a notice posted on the college website said.

"Resident Junior members are also hereby notified that, if and when the government gives the permission to reopen the residence facilities, all belongings and luggage will be moved a week prior to the date of residence reopening to facilitate necessary cleaning and renovations. In such occasion, the college will not be responsible for loss or damages," the notice added.

Prior to this, another notice was issued to the students on June 23 asking them to vacate their rooms.

A hosteller, who is currently in West Bengal, said the college is being "unfair" and is charging almost double the amount of what they would usually pay for the room. He left Delhi for his home town two days prior to March 9, when the mid-semester break started.

The mid-semester break was till March 15 but before that the Delhi University announced that it would be closed in view of the coronavirus pandemic.