Hostelers decry substandard food, lack of amenities

 Visakhapatnam: Once a bug, next a dead cockroach, another time an insect and recently, a lizard too! When hostelers settle for a meal at Andhra University hostel, ‘unwelcoming’ ingredients make their way on their plates. But students, who have flagged the issue repeatedly, lament that they are served sub-standard quality of food at hostels and no corrective action has been taken so far. For the past few days, protests were staged at the campus flagging poor quality of food served in hostels, lack of amenities and proper sanitation maintenance, among other issues.

An army of student associations took to social media platforms to highlight the challenges faced by the hostelers in Andhra University. “In March, we faced a similar situation. Vice Chancellor GP Raja Sekhar held a meeting with students and assured them that the quality of food in the mess will be improved. But even after months, cockroaches, lizards and other insects are found in the food served to hostelers,” pointed out Bommagani Avinash, state representative of Disha Students Organisation.

Apart from substandard quality of food, some of the students complain that there are no power sockets available in the hostel rooms for mobile charging. “Also, sanitation maintenance is very poor in hostels. Even mineral water is only accessed for a few hours a day and for that we need to wait in a long queue,” the hostelers lamented. Despite repeated complaints and continued protests, AU students express concern over varsity officials’ inaction and lack of responsiveness.