Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has spent Tk32 lakh to eliminate bedbugs from 18 residential halls of Dhaka University, Vice-President Shadik Kayem said on Thursday.
He made the disclosure around 12:45pm while presenting Ducsu’s one-year activities and accountability report at the Ducsu premises on the university campus.
“One of the fundamental crises of our university was bedbugs. Students could not sleep at night because of bedbugs in every hall. After being bitten by bedbugs all night, students could not concentrate on their studies when they went to classes the next day,” Shadik said.
Describing the initiative, he said: “After we were elected, we carried out this work on a priority basis. We have made 18 halls of Dhaka University free of bedbugs by spending around Tk32 lakh. We went room to room and arranged measures to eliminate bedbugs.”
Shadik also described a violence-free campus as Ducsu’s biggest achievement.
“If you ask what the biggest achievement of this Ducsu is, I would say a violence-free campus. After we took responsibility, throughout the entire year, we did not display power over anyone even for a second,” he said.
“If you look at the newspaper columns from the 1990s or earlier, it can be understood that there was no such day when violence did not take place on the campus.”
He said Ducsuhad also organized motorcycle and car driving training, first-aid and spoken English courses, research workshops, and sessions on scholarships and higher education.
Among its transportation initiatives, Ducsu introduced Saturday bus trips, buses for women’s halls and a weekly Dhaka-Comilla bus service, he said.
In healthcare, the union renovated the medical center, organized medical camps and provided free sanitary napkins in five women’s halls, among other initiatives.
Shadik also alleged that the university administration had not provided Ducsu with its allocated budget even after one year.
Despite the administration’s non-cooperation, Ducsu’s committees had carried out more than 1,000 activities, he claimed.