Roti, poori disappear from JNU messes amid gas shortage

A quiet food crisis is beginning to simmer inside the hostels and canteens of Jawaharlal Nehru University. With cooking gas supplies reduced, staple items such as roti and poori are slowly disappearing from campus menus, leaving students worried about further cuts and a possible rise in food costs.

The change began after gas supplier Indraprastha Gas Limited imposed a 20 per cent reduction in supply to industrial and commercial consumers earlier this month. The restriction has forced hostel mess committees and campus eateries to revise food plans in order to keep kitchens running.

At Lohit Hostel, the impact has already reached the dining table. According to a revised menu issued by the hostel mess committee, rotis will not be served during lunch on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Instead, students will be given alternatives such as plain rice or khichdi on those days.

Letters sent by Indraprastha Gas Limited to mess heads at Sabarmati and Lohit hostels informed them that gas supplies to commercial users would be limited to 80 per cent of their average consumption over the previous six months. The restriction came into effect at 6 am on March 11.

With a fifth of their usual supply gone, hostel kitchens say they have little choice but to ration gas usage and prioritise items that require less cooking time. The effects are not limited to hostels alone. Students say several campus canteens have also begun trimming their menus.

At the School of International Studies canteen, samosas have already been taken off the menu. At the TEFLAS canteen, tea is no longer being served. Students say items that require longer cooking times or heavy gas usage are gradually disappearing from food counters across the campus.

The Disha Students’ Organisation said in a statement that several food items have already been removed from canteen menus due to what it described as an “impending crisis”.

A student from the School of International Studies said that while the current changes to mess menus are still manageable, anxiety among students is beginning to grow. He said that institutions such as JNU attract many students who depend on affordable hostel meals and campus dhabas for their daily food.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union has announced a march to the office of the Dean of Students on Tuesday.

The union says the protest will demand urgent steps to ensure that hostel messes and campus dhabas continue to function smoothly despite the gas shortage. Student groups are also asking the administration to ensure that mess fees are not increased during the ongoing crisis.