Girls Protest At SVVU Hostel Over 26-Hour Power Outage, Poor Food, Water Shortage And Alleged Security Misconduct In MP's Ujjain

Female students at Vidyottama Girls Hostel of Samrat Vikramaditya Vishwavidyalaya (SVVU) in Ujjain staged a protest on Saturday over poor facilities and alleged mismanagement. They complained about a 26-hour power outage that disrupted water supply, coolers and other amenities. Low voltage and electrical faults damaged 12 chargers, two Wi-Fi routers and at least one mobile phone.

Students alleged that complaints to the warden and vice-chancellor were ignored, and they displayed undercooked and burnt chapatis to highlight the poor quality of food, which was a longstanding issue. They stated that students returning between classes had limited options but to eat the hostel food. Initially, they were prohibited from ordering outside food but later obtained permission to order tiffin meals or food parcels.

Students also alleged inappropriate behavior by security guards, leading to a police response following a call to Dial-112. The hostel premises were littered with rubbish and leftover food, attracting snakes, scorpions and other venomous creatures. Despite the warden's four-year tenure, residents claimed that facilities had not improved satisfactorily.

Anjali Shrivastava, the hostel warden, admitted that students were initially informed about the outage through their group, but the power supply was restored only after repeated complaints. She acknowledged long-standing complaints about food quality and permitted outside tiffin deliveries after receiving complaints about improper communication by mess staff.

Vice-chancellor Arpan Bhardwaj assured that students' grievances would be heard and appropriate steps taken to resolve them.