Nagpur: Five days before three tribal girls died of snakebite while sleeping on the floor of a Gadchiroli ashramshala, the state tribal development department issued a consolidated policy mandating a cot, mattress, blanket and pillow for every student in its govt-run tribal hostels.The govt resolution of Aug 5 applies to the department’s 490 operational govt hostels, a separate category from aided ashramshalas such as the one at Japatlai, where deaths occurred. But it’s a given that basic facilities like a bed is common in all ashramshalas regardless of its management — govt or private. It replaces six earlier orders issued between 2004 and 2017, folding them into a single rulebook.Under the new rules, every student in a govt hostel with adequate space is entitled to an iron cot, a cotton mattress, a woollen blanket, a pillow and two bedsheets, among other items, each with a fixed replacement cycle. The order also requires hostels to maintain a dedicated bedding register and undergo regular inspection and audit.The GR does not cite any inspection finding or complaint as the reason for the update. It says facilities in govt hostels had been governed by rules spread across multiple orders issued over years, and that consolidating them into one document, while updating some provisions, had been under consideration.
