Gurgaon’s only govt co-ed college has no space for boys

GURGAON: Guru Dornacharya College, the only co-ed government college in the city, has no accommodation for its male students, forcing them to either shell out nearly Rs 8,000 each month in PG accommodations or travel for long, hectic hours from different corners of the city.
Though the college had previously earmarked a building as a boy’s hostel, they had to convert it to accommodate girls.Now, male students have to travel long hours to make it to college on time, and if they are late, they are not allowed to sit for classes. “I have to travel from Sohna to Old Gurgaon everyday and it is very hectic. There are massive traffic issues on the way and it almost takes two-three hours to cover that distance. I often miss classes because of this”, said Rahul, a student.
Students claim that if they reach report late to class, they are not allowed to attend it. “I live near Sohna and use public transport to come to college. I often get stuck in massive traffic jams. Most of the times, I reach late to the class but the teacher does not believe my reasons. They think we are making an excuse and bar us from attending the class. This is affecting my attendance and studies. I feel helpless,” said Amit, another student.
The students say PG accommodations in the city are expensive, and good accommodations are hard to find. “I come from Pataudi every day. I tried to search for PGs but there are very few options for boys. If we do get them, they are very expensive. The cost of a single-room PG near the college is more than Rs 8,000 per month. I have to travel daily on a two-wheeler, which is inconvenient and unsafe. I wish the college premises had a boys’ hostel,” said Vishal, a first-year student.
Samidha Shikha, the principal of Guru Dronacharya College, however, claimed that a preference to accommodate female students, and a lack of space are the cause of trouble. “We had to convert the boys’ hostel into girls’ hostel for their safety. We cannot provide accommodations to both boys and girls because of a lack of space. However, we are not planning to provide accommodations to boys soon.”
There are over 6,000 students in the college, of which about 4,000 are boys.