For some, hostels may also bring back “horror stories” of food served in mess or the long wait for bathrooms. But, the hostels have come a long way from what they were a few years back. Well some certainly have!

At MCM DAV College, Sector 36, the students are provided with well furnished rooms where care has been taken of many intricate details. Stress has been laid on colour co-ordination. A well-equipped medical room and dental clinic is present to provide medical assistance. For the book worms, a reading lounge provides the right ambience. The taste buds are pampered with a variety of dishes. An evening cafeteria and beauty care centre are some of the other facilities.

The same is the case with GGDSD College, Sector 32. The hostel provides a variety of facilities to the students including a state-of-the-art gymnasium, a reading room with books and journals. Also, facilities like Internet are provided for the students.

With the influx of students from the neighbouring states to the hostels increasing, the demand for hostels rooms is also going up. In fact, in most colleges waiting-list is as much as the number of students occupying the hostels.

“The number of students interested in taking admission to the hostels has increased manifold. Keeping in mind the demand, we have converted one of the boys’ hostels into a girls’ hostel. Now, we have two hostels for girls. Despite this, around 40 girls are staying in the hostel at Dev Samaj College while around 80 are staying in rented accommodation. Another hostel would soon be set up,” says Dr A C Vaid, principal of GGDSD College.

These views were shared by Government College, Sector 46, principal Dr K S Saluja. The college has no hostel at present. Plans are underway to construct one. “Parents are more at ease if their daughters stay in hostels. So soon we would have a hostel on the premises,” he says.

Getting admission to hostels is a task. Due to the high demand, merit has become a strict criterion. Apart from a good score, there is a need to maintain consistency in performance.

Promila Kaushal, principal of Government College for Girls, Sector 11, says, “The girls are given seats in colleges on the basis of merit along with first-cum-first serve basis. The number of girls wanting seats in the hostels is large.”

In some colleges even after the admission, the students are required to show consistent results. The failure to get a desired percentage or the lack of attendance can also cost the students their hostel seats. A wide array of activities is available for the students. Students’ societies, apart from organising hostel nights and freshers party, are involved in various tasks.