Congress leader flags lack of hostels for female students, seeks answers from PM

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday flagged the issue of lack of hostels for female students and sought answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the problem being faced by them. Gandhi cited the remarks by a female student during his 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' event in Indore on Saturday to corner the government. "'The government has money to light diyas - why not for our hostels?' This question was asked of me yesterday by a female student in Indore. She came to the city from a village to study," Gandhi said recalling the interaction.

"There's no hostel, so she has to stay in a PG. Just to stay safe, lakhs are spent. The worry of monthly rent, and the fear of becoming homeless - she has to study amidst all this," Gandhi said in his post in Hindi. Many girls drop out of their studies for this very reason - because there's no place to live, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

"And what about the housing allowance? It doesn't increase with inflation, and on top of that, it falls prey to corruption. Narendra Modi ji - Do you have any answer to that little girl's question?" Gandhi said. Tagging Gandhi's post, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "PR events.

Designer clothes. Luxury cars. Aircraft. Skincare. Modi has money for everything except the education of India's youth." "No adequate infrastructure. No quality teachers. No training. No hostels. No jobs. At this point, the authenticity of his degree is almost irrelevant. His contempt for education explains how 'educated' he is," he said.

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'Rotten system'

Gandhi on Saturday had alleged that a rotten "system", especially in education, had captured the country and did not want students to ask questions, instead wanting "andhbhakts" -- a term commonly used by critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his supporters -- to spread its narrative and hatred.

The remarks came at the fifth edition of Gandhi's youth outreach programme 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' in Indore, a BJP stronghold, where he spoke on the theme 'system versus students' and interacted with Gen Z and other young participants on education, recruitment and employment issues. "The system is afraid of students because students ask questions.

The system does not want students; it wants 'andhbhakts'," Gandhi had said in Indore. He said students were curious, questioned authority and sought answers about the functioning of institutions, recruitment, examinations and opportunities, while "andhbhakts" lacked these qualities and instead spread hatred.

Gandhi alleged that the "system" had several layers and targeted Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, alleging that they exercised control over different aspects of the country's political, institutional and economic life. Students posed a challenge to this system because they remained curious and questioned what was happening around them, Gandhi had said.