Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday suggested to the Chief Secretary to pay surprise visits to government hostels and offices.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice H.G. Ramesh and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar made this oral observation during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition which has sought directions to monitor spending of budgetary allocations made to the hostels for the Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe students.
“Ask your Chief Secretary to pay surprise visit to hostels to check facilities and some government offices to know whether the applications of general public are disposed of or not …,” the Bench observed orally.
Petitioner Vinay Venugopal, a resident of Konena Agrahara, claimed that the government allocated Rs. 1,300 crore for around 2,000 hostels housing around 25,000 students for the financial year 2016-17. The hostels are not properly maintained and students are not provided adequate facilities.
A hostel on M.G. Road, for instance, has no doors and many students were overstaying, and there is no biometric system to mark attendance, etc., the petitioner alleged.
