Uttar Pradesh approves Rs 4.98 crore for repair, maintenance, renovation of backward-class student hostels

The Uttar Pradesh government has approved Rs 4.98 crore to improve the accommodation facilities for students from backward classes at eight hostels across the state. The Backward Classes Welfare Department had already sanctioned Rs 498.71 lakh for repair, maintenance and renovation work at the hostels that are attached to educational institutions in districts like Bahraich, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Nagar, Pratapgarh, Varanasi, Sonbhadra and Kanpur Dehat.

The allocated funding will improve existing hostel infrastructure and give students better-maintained and safer residential facilities. The largest share of this funding, Rs 67.93 lakh, has been allocated to the Government Women’s Polytechnic in Gorakhpur. This is followed by Rs 67.42 lakh for the Government Polytechnic in Bahraich and Rs 66.52 lakh for Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Shatabdi-2, in Kanpur Nagar.

Other hostels that will be receiving the funding include Government Inter College, Bareilly, with Rs 64.81 lakh; Government Inter College, Pratapgarh, with Rs 61.88 lakh; Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Government Degree College, Palahi Patti, Varanasi, with Rs 57.10 lakh; Government Inter College, Ghorawal, Sonbhadra, with Rs 58.76 lakh; and Government Degree College, Bara, Kanpur Dehat, with Rs 54.29 lakh.

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Existing hostel infrastructure to be upgraded

The sanctioned funds can only be used for approved repair and maintenance work at the selected hostels mentioned above. The issued order mentions that the funds have not been sanctioned for new construction or expansion of the hostels

The Uttar Pradesh State Construction Cooperative Federation Limited will be working on this under the supervision of the Backward Classes Welfare Department. The hostel principals and District Backward Classes Welfare Officers will monitor the work, and senior departmental officials will be in charge of inspecting these hostels.

The department will also conduct quality checks and physical verification after the repair work is completed. The funds can be used during the current financial year and under no circumstances carried forward for the upcoming year. The allocation will focus on repairing, improving and upgrading the existing student accommodation rather than building new hostel capacity for the backward class students.