Daily Times

LAHORE: Shortage of hostels at the Government College University (GCU) has irked students, as only 20 percent of the total enrolled students can avail the facility, leaving all other students belonging to other cities at the mercy of private hostels, Daily Times learnt on Thursday.

According to data available with Daily Times, there are a total of 10,000 students currently enrolled in the GCU. However, the hostels of GCU for boys can only accommodate 1,800 students, whereas one hostel for female students has the capacity of accommodating only 300 students. Among the four hostels, three are dedicated for boys and only one for girls. lqbal Hostel was built in 1891, Quaid-e-Azam Hostel was built in 1993, New Hostel was built in 1937 whereas the Girls Hostel was built in 1975.

However, the capacity of these hostels was increased with the passage of time, but still there are thousands of students living in private hostels due to shortage of rooms in the GCU hostels. Among the boarders, girls are suffering more because of only one building available for female students.

It is pertinent to mention here that the GCU is one of the most prestigious institutions in the history of Pakistan and the Indian Subcontinent before partition. It has also produced several renowned laureates, writes, poets, singers, musicians, politicians and leaders.

Previously known as Government College Lahore, it was given the status of a varsity in 2002 after the establishment of Higher Education Commission (HEC). However, since its upgradation to the status of a university, no steps have been taken to increase the capability to accommodate more students.

According to sources at the GCU, among the 10,000 students, around 4,000 to 4,500 students belong to other cities, who either live with their families in Lahore or live in hostels near the GCU. These students are not only from Punjab but also from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, who are studying at the GCU on special quota.

While talking to Daily Times, a student, Adeeba Younas, said that she belongs to Toba Tek Singh but was residing in a private hostel. She said that she was paying a hundred times more than the students who were availing hostel facility at the GCU. “I am astonished that how a varsity having a long history and teaching up to 10,000 students can only accommodate 300 to 400 female students,” she said, adding that the number of female students enrolled at the university was higher than that of male students.

Another student, Amna Khan, said it was very hard for her to live without her family in a private hostel where the expense of electricity was more than the rent shared by four students. She said that she belonged to Gujranwala and forced her family to shift to Lahore, and now her whole family was living in Lahore. She demanded the GCU vice chancellor and other higher education authorities to make arrangements accommodate more female students at the GCU hostels as this could save their money as well as will provide them mental relaxation. When contacted, GCU spokesman Musadiq Sulatan was of the view that in order to cope with the shortage of hostels for students, the GCU was establishing a state-of-the-art hostel building at the GCU Kala Shah Kaku Campus, which was a 25-minute drive away from the main campus. He went on to say that this building would be completed by 2018 and from next term more hostels would be available to students.

Published in Daily Times, November 3^rd 2017.