Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The technical education department is planning to repurpose vacant hostel seats across polytechnic colleges in the state for other educational purposes. According to the department’s data from September 2024, there are a significant number of unoccupied hostel seats in both boys’ and girls’ hostels, which officials believe could be better utilized to benefit the educational system.
The data reveals that there are 28 boys hostels in polytechnic colleges, where 1,506 students currently reside. Despite the occupancy, a total of 1,581 seats remain vacant across all the boys’ hostels. Similarly, in 41 girls’ hostels, 1,387 students are housed, but 1,991 seats are unoccupied. The department is assessing how these vacant seats and the available infrastructure could be leveraged for other educational programs, aiming to maximize the use of state resources and potentially address the growing demand for space in other educational initiatives.
However, priority will be given to educational purposes. In order to maintain a conducive environment for students, a criterion has been established where the vacant seats will be allocated to individuals of the same age group as the current residents. This ensures that if a few seats are available in a hostel occupied by students of a particular age group, those admitted will belong to the same age and gender categories.
Proposal under consideration
Secretary of Department of Technical Education Raghuraj MR told Free Press that the department is working on utilizing the vacant spaces. If any government department, especially an educational institute, requires the facility, it will be leased to them. He further said that this proposal is still under consideration, and we are actively working on it.
