Hyderabad: Nearly one lakh hostel seats in higher education institutions across Telangana remained vacant in 2024-25, with student leaders citing poor hostel infrastructure and inadequate academic support as a major factor. Officials, meanwhile, attributed the vacancies to changing course preferences and students increasingly opting for private institutions.According to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), Telangana has 1,414 hostels with a sanctioned intake of 3,49,153 students. However, only 2,45,113 students were residing in them, leaving over one lakh seats vacant.“In many professional colleges, students are not staying in govt hostels because of poor infrastructure.
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Rrecently, students at JNTU Mahabubabad staged a protest over hostel conditions. When students feel they are paying around ₹2,500 for a govt hostel but can get a better private hostel for about ₹2,000, they will naturally shift outside,” said V Dilip, heading the Student Protection Force.He also said merely introducing new programmes would not improve enrolment unless institutions invested in faculty and academic quality. “New courses are being introduced, but they are not being developed. There are no teachers, no industrial exposure and no proper guidance. If these are lacking in these institutions, naturally students will be reluctant to join these programmes,” he said.Students who stay in hostels say they have to ask for facilities. “No govt colleges or universities give facilities without asking. We too have to keep asking, and repeatedly not just once. But we do get them once we put a word across to the management. That, however, may not be the case with all colleges and universities across the state,” said B Sai Thanuj, student of a well-known university in Hyderabad.Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) chairman Prof V Balakista Reddy said the vacancies were largely in residential colleges offering outdated courses. “Some residential colleges have vacant hostels because students are not joining courses that are no longer in demand. At the same time, many students are opting for private engineering colleges and universities where hostel facilities are available. We need to relook at the courses being offered based on current demand,” he told STOI.
