A 20-year-old student suffered head injuries after a portion of the ceiling collapsed in a hostel bathroom at JNU on Thursday morning, amid allegations that authorities had been sitting on long-standing complaints about ramshackle buildings and the need for repairs.
Just hours after the incident at the Sabarmati Hostel, the university tweeted that it had received Rs 56.34 crore for hostel repairs.
Earlier, a senior university official had acknowledged that several buildings, including hostels, needed “major repairs” but the varsity had “not got funds”.
Md Fasihul Hassan, the injured student, said he had received five to seven stitches on his head.
“The incident happened at 10.30am.... I was in shock for some time and then I stepped out. My seniors tied a gamchha around my head to stop the bleeding and took me to the university’s health centre, from where I was referred to Safdarjung Hospital,” the second-year BA student of German told PTI.
“The ceiling of the bathroom is low, so I escaped alive. But the ceilings of the rooms are higher. Had the ceiling of a room collapsed, a student sleeping in his bed could have died. Every hostel in the university requires repairs. The hostel warden (of Sabarmati) should resign. There have been protests over the issue.”
Hassan hails from Aurangabad in Bihar and secured admission to JNU in 2020. However, the Covid-induced closure meant he came to the campus as a student for the first time in February this year, when physical classes resumed.
Aisa said it had repeatedly raised the rundown hostel infrastructure but the administration kept delaying repairs on the pretext of funds shortage.
“JNU receives a grant of Rs 56.34 crore towards hostel repairs and maintenance. VC Prof. Santishree D. Pandit, in keeping with her mission of a student centric & friendly administration, thanks the UGC & MoE (ministry of education) for the release of the grant,” the university tweeted hours after the ceiling collapse.
Earlier, a university official had said: “We have not got funds. We have sought Rs 54 crore from the executive council of the university to carry out major repairs in the hostels but the approval is awaited.
“We have carried out minor repairs in the Brahmaputra Hostel. The Sabarmati Hostel will be the next, followed by the Narmada Hostel. These are old hostels.”
The official said dampness had caused the ceiling collapse. “He (Hassan) is doing fine. He underwent an X-ray which shows everything is fine. The report of a CT scan is awaited.”
Hassan said he had not informed his family about the incident so that they would not panic.
A senior police officer said: “We have not received any PCR call or any complaint so far in this regard.”
Vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit visited the Sabarmati Hostel and assured students that no such incident would happen again, sources said.