Kottayam: Shortage of hostel facilities at the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) was brought to sharp focus when the Kerala Students Union (KSU) accused the Students' Federation of India (SFI) of illegally occupying a university building hostel and running it for their political interests.

The building named ‘Pataliputram’, originally constructed as residential quarters for drivers on the campus, is being illicitly used by members of the SFI to accommodate party cadets and other outsiders, said KSU MGU unit president Abdul Majeed V.

According to a Right to Information (RTI) response from MGU, the building is not officially part of the university's hostel facilities.

Abdul said that SFI exercises complete control over hostel facilities, including the Pataliputram building. "They don't allow anyone else to enter the building if they are not affiliated with the SFI," Abdul alleged. "When I joined the campus, they interviewed me informally and warned me that if I associated with any student organisation other than the SFI, I would not be given hostel facilities," he said. 

Abdul also pointed out that hostel inmates unofficially elect a hostel secretary, a position that plays a key role in deciding hostel facility usage. "All those elected as hostel secretaries are SFI members, as they hold the majority here," he added.

However, SFI dismissed the claims as baseless and said that hostel facilities are open to all university students and that they don't restrict access on any basis. "All the allegations made are false. The hostel is open to all eligible students, and we do not restrict access on any basis," said Jaipal TJ, SFI  MGU unit president. 

However, he admitted that the university does face a serious shortage of hostel facilities. "Our organisation has raised this issue multiple times with university officials," he added. "We have submitted complaints and conducted marches demanding better infrastructure. The current hostel was built when the university had only 14 departments — now there are 30, but the number of hostel rooms remains unchanged," he said. 

Jaipal added that SFI has asked the university officials to convert unused buildings into hostels to address the growing demand for accommodation, and Pataliputram is one such building. "Anyone can use that building. No one is restricting any students from entering it," he said. 

However, university officials declined to comment on the current use or official status of the Pataliputram building when contacted by Onmanorama. "We have received a complaint from KSU regarding the Pataliputram building. We are investigating the issue," an official said. 

According to the RTI response, the university currently operates six hostels with a total capacity of 634 students. Two buildings are allotted to the PhD students. However, students argue that this is far from adequate, with six to seven students often forced to share a single room.

KSU alleges that the SFI is using the shortage of hostel facilities as a pretext to occupy university buildings for political purposes. "They house party affiliates and outsiders in these buildings to intimidate other students," alleged Vishnu Prasad, a KSU affiliate and PhD student. "If political issues arise in nearby colleges involving the SFI, these outsiders are sent there to intervene and create disturbances."

Tensions escalated on campus after KSU filed a formal complaint with the university registrar regarding the alleged illegal occupation of university buildings by SFI members. Following the complaint, KSU claims that the SFI president physically assaulted their unit general secretary in retaliation.

However, SFI has strongly denied the allegation. They said that the altercation stemmed from a separate incident in which the KSU leader allegedly misbehaved with female SFI members. Both organisations have filed a complaint with the police based on the allegations against each other.