In a time when the entire globe is marching towards women’s equal rights and accepting the individuality of a woman, here is a striking example of how educational institutions are taking a step back or rather a leap back into the previous century and trying to keep the woman “indoors”.

S.N.D.T. women’s university, the first and foremost women’s university in India whose foundations were laid by the late social reformist, Maharishi Karve, the man who brought about revolution in the acceptance and upliftment of women and the one who encouraged them to move out of the four walls of their homes and encouraged them to experience the world outside has brought about new rules in the 21st century which Karve would have never adhered to.

The university under the guidance of Prof. Chandra Krishnamurty, the vice-chancellor, who is a doctorate in “law” had brought about a new rule which cancels the rights of the hoteliers to exempt themselves from being in the hostel on certain preferred days. The option of remaining absent in the hostel for a particular number of days in a month is available in all hostels around the country. This gives the student the opportunity to go visit relations or partake in some functions or carry some personal responsibilities or to just have fun.

The university’s utter illogical and nonsensical action needs to be questioned. Rather than appointing a responsible superintendent for the hostel, the university and its authoritarians are trying to curb the freedom of the students. In this competitive times when methods and ways should be implemented by any educational system to upgrade the intellectual quality and capability of students, in S.N.D.T. women’s university one can observe signs of deprival and pressure to remain in one’s own cocoons.

It has almost been a year and a half that the university campus hostel in Churchgate, Mumbai lacks a superintendent. The temporary in-charge superintendent Mrs. Bhakare, who is a lecturer in the P.V.D.T. College of Education in the churchgate campus, itself lacks the ability to govern the students. She displays inhuman and impolite mannerisms towards students coming from different backgrounds and regions around the country. Usage of abusive language and mental harassment is a routine issue in the hostel.

Even after the students complained that the in-charge warden addressed them with derogatory term like “prostitute” and inquires into the intricate details of the “married lives” of married student crowd or has claimed many a students to have lesbian relationship with fellow hostel-mates, the universities authorities seem to take no notice. The university which proclaims to have conducted and participated in the anti-ragging campaign started by the government of India encourages torture and torment of its own students at the hands of professors.

Why the university doesn’t bring in a capable superintendent for the hostel facility? Why are the basic rights of students being questioned? Why is there neglect on the part of the authorities to take note of the misbehavior towards students by the teachers? Why is there degradation in the value of education and more emphasis on curbing the freedom? Is the university nearing its doom? Is there no one to question the authorities of an educational institution in this country?