Taking serious note of the fact that meals were not served to the inmates of a women’s hostel of the Ravenshaw University for a day, the Odisha Human Rights Commission has ordered the warden and deputy warden of the hostel to personally appear before it and explain the cause on October 18.
Taking up an application filed by former student leader and advocate Chittaranjan Mohanty, the OHRC had earlier sought a report from the university registrar on the matter. However, not satisfied with the registrar’s report, the commission has ordered for personal appearance of warden Pritirekha Daspatnaik and deputy warden Nirupama Tete.
The facts inter alia are that some students of the university were on a relay strike for over ten days in June protesting against the sudden hike of hostel dues. While a total of 382 inmates of the Bhargavi Hostel had joined the strike, the hostel mess under the instructions of the wardens did not cook lunch for the inmates on June 24, as a result of which all the students starved for the day.