PG accommodation to burn a hole in students’ pockets

Private hostels and PGs in these areas have single,double and triple accommodation rooms at rates ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000,apart from dormitories that can accommodate around five people per room. Facilities like laundry,food and Internet connection are also provided at an extra charge.

Those running PG facilities cite the rise in price of essential commodities as the reason behind rent hikes this year.

Sumita Sil,a resident of Kamla Nagar,has been renting out two rooms of her house to girls for three years. She said,“In 2010,I used to charge only Rs 3,500 per person for a double accommodation room. It was increased to 6,000 last year. With a rise in power tariff,I will have to increase it further by Rs 500 for the next session.”

A PG accommodation in Outram Lines,Saraswati Sadan,has increased the rent for its rooms by Rs 500. Thus,while a student will have to pay Rs 8,000 for a double-seater room this year,three- and four-seater rooms will cost for Rs 6,500 and Rs 5,500,respectively.

Some PG owners have chosen to cut down on facilities instead of hiking the rent. Shashi Arora, who runs a PG facility in Civil Lines,said,“We used to charge Rs 10,000 per person in 2010 when we had been providing facilities like laundry,Internet connection,food with air-conditioned rooms. We are charging Rs 6,500 this year but the students will have to pay extra for an AC room,Internet and laundry. They will also have to arrange for tiffins as we will not be providing them with food.”

Adity Pradhan,a third-year student of Indraprastha College,who stays in a double-seater room in Hudson Line,will be looking for another place stay. “I was paying Rs 4,500 for a double-seater room till May,but the rent is going to be increased to Rs 5,000. While food and laundry costs were included in the rent,the kitchen will be out of bounds from July. The owner has decided to shut it because of an inflated gas bill,”she said.