Female college students in Dhaka are being forced to pay up to Tk15,000 in bribes to leaders of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) to secure a seat in their respective dormitories, despite having seats allocated by hostel management.
Theoretically, after having been allocated a seat, a student is supposed to pay only the seat charge, and other hostel fees as per college rules. However, political leaders have been blocking access to the halls to those who fail to pay the extra money.
Chhatra League President Saifur Rahman Shohag denied the charges, saying student leaders don't take extra money from the colleges.
“Why would Chhatra League leaders take extra money from general students over the allocation of seats at their dormitories? Students pay money to the authorities for this,” he said.
“If the allegations are authenticated, then we will take tough measures against those engaged in these activities.”
However, after talking to several students of Begum Badrunnesa Government Women College, Eden Mohila College and the College of Home Economics, the Dhaka Tribune found that a female student must typically pay Tk10,000 to Tk15,000 extra to secure the seat already allocated to her by hostel management.
The sums reportedly stood at Tk5,000 to Tk8,000 three years ago but BCL leaders began raising these last year and can now charge up to triple the earlier amounts.
Students who come from poor and middle class families often cannot meet the BCL demands so must stay in private-owned messes where the living cost is doubled compared to the college dormitories.
File photo of Begum Badrunnesa Government Women College in Dhaka
Wikimedia CommonsBegum Badrunnesa Government Women College
Those students who manage to enter the seats by paying the illegal surcharge to the Chhatra League leadership are often then subjected to further pressures. Students have alleged that they are forced to attend political events.
Requesting anonymity, a masters student at the Government Women’s college said she was made to pay Tk12,000 to the Chhatra League leaders to get the seat during her honours period, even though the hostel authorities had allocated a seat to her.
“When I enrolled in my masters, I had to pay an extra Tk10,000 again to the political leaders even though I had deposited around Tk5,000 to the hall office as a seat charge,” she said.
Hall officials confirmed the official seat tariffs for the 800 students who occupy the two residential halls: every student should pay Tk5,000 for the New Hall and Tk4,000 for the Old Building Hall.
However, the Chhatra League leadership have been imposing their own charges on top of this.
A teacher at the institution who requested anonymity said the college management and staff were powerless to intervene.
“It is true that seat management is under the thumb of political leaders. Hence the principal and other teachers cannot do anything,” he said.
When pressed for comment, the Chhatra League president at the Government Women’s College, Sabina Akter Sheuly, said: “I have no interest in talking about this matter. You had better talk to the administration about this.”
College Principal Hosne Ara Shefali said he had not received any written complaints on the subject. “If we receive any complain from students who have experienced harassment then we will take required action,” he said.
File photo of studentsof Eden Mohila College gather in front of the institute's building in Dhaka's Azimpur
Wikimedia CommonsEden Mohila College
Several students at Eden Mohila College allege that college authorities know about the extortion by student leaders but have kept silent for years. In this time, the authorities have not taken any measures to curb the practice.
“I had to pay Tk10,000 to student leaders for my seat at Ayesah Siddiqua Hall when I was in the second year,” a final year student at the English department said. “Later, I had to leave the hall as I faced several problems while staying there. Now I stay with my family in Mirpur.”
Chhatra League convener at the institution, Asma Siddiqa Asha, rejected the allegations.
“Chhatra League is not involved in these kinds of activities. If any leader of the organisation extorts and someone complains to us about the extortion, we will take action after an investigation,” she said.
Superintendent of Ayesha Siddiqa Hall, Asma Parvin, said: “Students have to pay a fixed amount of money to the bank to be a resident of the hall. There is no system of paying extra money.”
“It is not our duty to monitor what the student leaders are doing and whether they take extra money from the students. We allocate seats through a formal procedure.”
Dr Shamsun Nahar has been the principal at the college since March. He said he was not aware of the Chhatra League leaders taking extra money.
“If anyone complains about the matter then we will discuss the issue with the student leaders to solve any problems,” he said.
File photo of the front gate of College of Home Economics in Dhaka
College websiteCollege of Home Economics
The College of Home Economics has long been regarded by female students as the most prestigious location under the umbrella of Dhaka University. Yet, several students have raised allegations of extortion against the resident student leaders.
A third year student at the Child Development and Social Relationships Department said: “I paid Tk8,000 to the hall leaders to get a seat two-and-a-half years ago. Now the students have to pay more than Tk10,000.”
Questioned about the allegation, the president of the institution’s Chhatra League unit Jesmin Ruma said: “There are 101 members in the committee here so I do not know who extorts from students. If you can produce evidence then we will take steps against the accused.”
The principal of the institution said she had been made aware of the extortion and would need time to address the situation.
“We are trying our best to break the system,” Professor Fatima Suraya said. “Recently we have allocated seats to 69 students in a proper way without any interference by the political leaders.”
Mentioning that only 12% students receive hall facilities, she said the situation would be satisfactory if they could provide dormitory facility to at least 35% of the students. The principal also said the institution had recently submitted a letter to the Education Ministry to extend the dormitories and academic buildings.
