New Delhi, July 15: Students who plan to come to the capital from the Northeast for higher education need no longer worry about finding affordable accommodation. The ministry for development of the northeastern region (Doner) has written to the Delhi government, seeking land to build hostels exclusively for students from the region.
Nearly 5,000 students from the eight northeastern states land up in Delhi every year for under-graduate, post-graduate and professional courses.
Doner minister P.R. Kyndiah said these new hostels would cater exclusively to students from the region, including Sikkim. ?The mode of enrolment and admission will be decided later,? he said.
?From Nagaland alone, nearly 1,000 students come for admission but less than 50 students are get hostel accommodation. We really need some more,? said Keghoto, adviser to the Naga Students Association of Delhi (NSUD).
While some are lucky enough to get into the limited hostels that Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University offer, most of them have to make do with rented rooms, which at times turn out to be expensive. Very few institutes offering professional courses have hostels.
Sometimes, in search of cheaper rooms, students have to take up accommodation quite a distance away from their colleges or universities.
The cost of living being high in the capital, only aspirants from the economically well-off sections can afford to study in Delhi. Hostels with subsidised food and board can open up avenues for those from lower income groups.
Currently, two hostels exist for Northeast students in Delhi University, but a certain percentage of the seats are reserved for other states.
Funds for the hostels will be sanctioned from the non-lapsable pool, which is a rolling fund for development projects in the Northeast.