Several hundreds of students from across the State who gain admission to the Government Arts and Science Colleges in Coimbatore will have their task cut out to find accommodation.
| Photo Credit: SIVA SARAVANAN S
For candidates securing admission to the two government arts and science colleges in Coimbatore city, accommodation remains a major issue.While a segment of the candidates manage to gain entry into welfare hostels for Adi Dravida and Backward Class students run by government departments, and avail the benefit of free food and stay, a majority are left with no other option but to secure private accommodation that is mostly pricey.For an intake of 1,700 plus students in the first-year UG programmes, the Government Arts and Science College (Autonomous), Coimbatore, has received over 37,000 applications this year, and the only Government Arts and Science College for Women in the entire Coimbatore region at Puliakulam in the city has over 11,000 applicants for over 400 seats in the UG programmes.The hostel in the Government Arts and Science College (Autonomous), Coimbatore, has a capacity to admit only 350 students, and the rest are constrained to find private accommodation entailing hefty expenditure that is beyond the means of their families belonging to low socio-economic strata, according to a senior faculty member.The Government Arts and Science College for Women at Puiyakulam has no hostel, and up to 70 students are able to secure admissions into welfare hostels. Private accommodation is the only option for the rest of the students.Faced with the situation of finding accommodation at short notice, parents of students gaining entry into these two colleges have their task cut out, and are currently learnt to be on a house-hunting spree for rental accommodation in localities in a radius of five to 10 km.Normally, the students are required to spend not less than ₹5,000 per month. For these students, the cost of education turns out to be much lesser than the expenditure incurred towards accommodation, rue parents.The economic progress in Coimbatore is what draws the students in droves to the government arts and science colleges, with the hope of finding par-time jobs to fund their studies.The persisting predicament of the students could be addressed by the State government effectively by making special budgetary allocation and establishing hostels with large capacities with provision for subsidised stay and food, teachers who witness the travails of the students on a daily-basis emphasise. Published - June 09, 2026 10:06 pm IST
