Country’s public universities have increased the price of meal at the dining halls, canteens and cafeteria by 20 percent to 30 percent. Earlier, students had to pay taka thirty to have lunch or dinner at the canteens of their residential halls but now they are compelled to pay over taka sixty to have meals.
As most of the residential students of public universities belong to low income background, many of them maintain their educational expenses through giving private tuition. But the money which they receive from private tuition fails to meet their daily needs.
Most of the residential students take their regular meals from their respective hall dining and canteens. As the prices of essential commodities continued to soar, the university authorities have hiked price of food served to students at the dining and canteens of halls and cafeterias.
Students from the lower, lower middle,
middle and fixed income groups are
the worst sufferers of meal price hike
The leaseholders who run canteen, cafeteria and dining said the university authorities do not provide any subsidy for the dining food. However, the quality and quantity of food items like fish, beef or mutton, chicken, vegetables and other have deteriorated sharply.
Canteen, dining and cafeteria are also serving low-quality rice, watered-down lentils and substandard vegetables. So, students are facing serious financial hardship, forcing them to reduce menu from their meal to cut the cost.
Apart from these, students are also being served food cooked in unhygienic conditions. Sometimes insects and other unhealthy items are found in the meals.
Meals served at the university’s dining, canteen and cafeteria fall short of daily nutritious intake recommended for a person to lead a healthy life. Students from the lower, lower middle, middle and fixed income groups are the worst sufferers of meal price hike.
Therefore, the government should take this issue into consideration and give subsidy for food at all public universities. As the ruling Awami League has put the highest importance on education, it must address this problem immediately. We hope country’s brilliant and talented students studying at public universities will not suffer from malnutrition.