NEW DELHI, June 23: A vacation Judge today directed the authorities of the Hostel For College-Going Blind Students, Sewa Kutir, at Kingsway Camp to keep the mess open till July 9. Following an order from the Social Welfare Department, the mess was closed on June 8. Student Surender Singh Rana filed a petition - representing the 136 blind students who live in the hostel - before the District Judge after the mess was closed.According to the plea, the students claim that they have been staying there over different periods of time from 1984 onwards and the hostel has never closed for the summer vacations. On June 6, District Officer A.K. Sinha on instructions from Social Welfare Director Geeta Sagar said that the hostel is being closed for the summer vacations from June 8. He reportedly asked all the students to vacate the premises. The hostel mess was closed on the morning of June 8 and the students had to go without food. Around 12.30 p.m. the same day, three students asked the SHO of Mukherjee Nagar police station to intervene. According to the students, the SHO informed them that he had a letter for police aid to evict students if the need arose.Sinha claimed that the students were being given Rs 25 per day for their food expenses. But they deny this. On June 10 a vacation judge ordered that the mess be reopened as many of the students are studying for examinations till June 22, and the Rs 25 - which is anyway not sufficient - was not being given to them. The mess will be open till July 9, when the case comes up before a Senior Civil Judge.
