2 seats for women, 12 for men

MUMBAI: The University of Mumbai (MU)’s female students pursuing their Masters of Law (LL.M), have raised their voice against the discrimination faced by them from the varsity with regard to hostel facilities. According to the department of law’s handbook of information, there are only two seats allotted for female candidates in the MU hostels, while the number of students per batch is around 200. Meanwhile, the same hostels have 12 seats for male candidates.

The LL.M students have three hostel options, which includes J.S Hall Boys hostel at Churchgate, Justice K.T Telang Girls Hostel at Churchgate and Savitribai Phule Girls Hostel at Marine Drive. Close to 600 students are given admission for the course for the academic year 2018-19 by the varsity. Out of this, as per the handbook, 120 seats are reserved for ‘students from varsities other than MU’. However, in reality, the total sanctioned number of seats available for hostels is 12 for male candidates and two for female candidates.

When this paper contacted MU Registrar Dinesh Kamble, he responded by saying, “I am not in charge of this matter, hence I cannot comment.” However, Dr. Rajeshri Varhadi, Sr. Associate Professor of the Department of Law explained, “Very soon the University will start a new hostel named Madam Cama Girls hostel at Churchgate following which we shall increase the intake of  students. As of now, construction work regarding the safety of the students is going on, which will be completed within a couple of weeks."

The Asian Age spoke to a couple of students, who have secured admissions and paid the course fee but are now regretting it. Students feel it is gender-based discrimination.  “This is injustice. We have a right to accommodation once we secure admission. We come from very humble economic backgrounds, without any option for accommodation in the city,” said a student in a letter, which was submitted to MU vice-chancellor and registrar on Monday. “If I knew this would be the situation, I would have opted for some other university in the state,” another student said.