Four months of horrible Sugarless tea; humiliation to SC/ST students

KOLLAM: Ashram Nursing College in Kollam is the lone SC/ST nursing school in the state under the health department. However, the recent happenings in this hostel should be called a disgrace. The girls in this nursing school are allowed only sugarless tea.

The arrears of mess allowance to be received from the Scheduled Caste Department has exceeded seven lakh rupees, and the hostel authorities are struggling to obtain food for the students. At present, it is the teachers who are spending their hard-earned money to buy food products for the hostel.

Most of the supplies were purchased from Supplyco and Horticorp. However, due to mounting arrears, government institutions have denied further loans. At present, there are 48 students in the hostel who hail from various parts of the state.

There are four months mess allowance arrears pending for students in three batches of the hostel. Minding the loss of academic sessions due to COVID-19, the classes of two batches were extended for five months. The mess allowance of 32 female students in this batch is also in arrears.

At the end of the month, the total expenditure in the hostel is calculated and the mess allowance is requested to the Scheduled Caste Department. Rs 2700 is allotted to each student. According to officials, the four-month allowance has been sanctioned, but the money has not yet reached the bank accounts.