A recent audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed significant deficiencies in Maharashtra’s government-run and government-aided student hostels, highlighting poor infrastructure, safety violations, financial irregularities and the continued funding of non-functional hostels.
The findings are part of the CAG Report 2024, tabled in the Maharashtra Legislature on July 10. The audit covered the period between 2022 and 2024 and included inspections of 18 government hostels and 21 government-aided hostels across the state.
As of March 2024, Maharashtra had 443 government hostels and 2,388 government-aided hostels, accommodating 1,21,971 boys and 40,543 girls. During the audit period, the state spent Rs 2,321 crore on these facilities.
The report found that several hostels lacked basic amenities such as dining halls, libraries, computer laboratories, CCTV cameras, newspapers, televisions and inverter backup. Regular medical check-ups for students were also missing in many facilities.
In four hostels, students were forced to eat meals while seated on the floor due to the absence of tables and chairs, while some hostels did not have dedicated dining spaces. The audit also pointed to inadequate washrooms, poor-quality food, insufficient lighting, lack of safe drinking water and the absence of the mandatory one-month reserve stock of food grains.
The CAG also identified violations of accessibility norms for differently-abled students. Despite rules requiring ground-floor accommodation, students with disabilities were allotted upper-floor rooms in hostels located in Moshi, Ahmednagar, Dharashiv, Jat, Jalna and Manish Nagar in Nagpur without adequate accessibility facilities.
Biometric attendance systems were also found to be largely ineffective. Of the 280 government hostels equipped with biometric devices, only 46 had functioning systems during the inspection.
The audit further revealed that six of the 21 government-aided hostels inspected were either locked or still under construction despite receiving government grants. The Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance had released Rs 1.62 crore to these non-functional hostels over four years.
Administrative issues were also highlighted, including Rs 56.65 crore of unspent funds from the Rs 487 crore allocated for government hostels in 2023-24, vacancies of hostel superintendents and delays in expanding hostel infrastructure. The report noted that the state’s target of establishing 500 government hostels by 2020 remains unmet, with only 443 hostels operational, affecting accommodation for students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Source: Mid-day
