50 New Girls Hostels to Start Across the State

The state government's social welfare department on the 125th birth anniversary of the Babasaheb Ambedkar has decided to start 50 new girls' hostels across the state, including two new girls' hostels, one in Ichalkaranji and one in Kolhapur city,

"The city will get a girls' hostel for the beneficiaries of the weaker sections of society from the upcoming academic year," Vijaykumar Gaikwad, commissioner of the social welfare department, Kolhapur, said on Friday.

According to Gaikwad, this will be the seventh girls' hostel in the district and will be started by June 15. The other six hostels have the capacity to accommodate around 75 people. The two new hostels will provide an increased quota for beneficiaries. The hostel in the city will accommodate 100 girls and will be operated from a rented building. "In the past, we got a number of requests to start a new girls' hostel, especially in Kolhapur city, due to low number of hostels in the city earlier. The new hostel will prove useful for students," he said.

He said that the rented building has been finalised for the Kolhapur city, but he refused to disclose the location. The department is still searching for a suitable location in Ichalkaranji.

"There are as many as 10 boys' hostels operating across the district, which are under the social welfare department. "The total number of beneficiaries taking advantage of the accommodation facility might go up to around 1,500 students. It may go up further once the new hostels become operational from next month."

- Vijaykumar Gaikwad, Commissioner-Social Welfare Department, Kolhapur

"We are very happy with this decision. This will benefit all the poor students. We give thanks to the government of Maharashtra. "

-Pradnya Jadhav, Student, Kolhapur

Source - Prasad Patil, City Journalist, College Dekho