A protest broke out at the temporary hostel premises of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai (MNLU Mumbai) earlier this week after an electrical issue caused appliances in student rooms to catch fire, prompting concern over safety and basic living conditions.
Last year, students were shifted from the MTNL building in Powai, located directly across the academic building, to a YourSpace managed hostel in Kanjurmarg. Students said that rooms in the MTNL building were previously allotted 2 or 3 students. This has changed in the YourSpace Kanjurmarg to now accommodate 3 or 6 students.
Students have alleged that the faulty electrical wiring has damaged their laptops. A video of a wall-fan which was not in use catching fire triggered concerns of student safety.
They have also complained that a recent switch from packaged Bisleri water to an unnamed RO water supply, which they say contains a distinct smell of chlorine, has caused students to fall sick.
The 17-floor Kanjurmarg hostel building has two lifts which were non-functional last week, making it difficult for students to carry their belongings and potable water to higher floors.
Students said that the shift to the Kanjurmarg hostel came with assurances of gym facilities, reading rooms and a library, which have not yet been made available so far. Students have also stated that there is no mess in the hostel premises.
In the wake of the protests, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dilip Ukey met with students and assured them of online end-semester exams for this semester.
In an email to Bar & Bench, MNLU Registrar Prof Prakash N Chaudhary stated that the administration has set up a fact-finding inquiry committee, a fire audit and an electrical audit after the incident.
Stating that the current hostel is managed by a private service, he said,
"The University has conducted several rounds of meetings with the officials of hostel service provider and instructed them to take remedial actions on war footing. Dedicated electrician and plumber exclusively for the hostel will be deployed immediately. The process of replacing the electrical gadgets has already started, so as to avoid any such untoward event."
As regards hostel facilities, the Registrar has stated that a gym is available in the hostel premises and that a dining area is being used for study purposes.
"The mess will be operational in the premises after consultation with the student bodies, gym facility is already available and ample space of library/reading is made available in the University campus. As at present the mess is not operational in the hostel, the dining space is being utilized by the students for reading purposes. The University is also in search of additional space for the library and other facilities, in the vicinity of the hostel."