On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court directed the state government to prioritize resolving the issue of overcrowding in state-run hostels for scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) students. The court also sought detailed information on the measures taken to fill the vacant positions of wardens.
During the hearing of a suo motu public interest litigation registered in 2023, Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind observed that a “chaotic situation” had arisen in these hostels. The court highlighted a report submitted by the state government, which revealed significant staffing shortages: out of 1,890 sanctioned senior warden posts, 548 were vacant, and 53 of 518 junior warden posts were unfilled.
The court noted that many hostels were admitting more students than their sanctioned capacity. For example, in a post-metric hostel in Sirsi, Uttara Kannada district, 151 students were admitted against a capacity of 50. Similarly, Koppal hostels had 214 students against a sanctioned strength of 75, and another hostel in Koppal admitted 250 students despite a capacity of 100.
The court has instructed the state government to provide details on the actions taken to address these staffing and overcrowding issues and adjourned the hearing to September 30.
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