Dhaka University has decided to take steps to close down the “Gono room” once the university opens after the long vacation in light of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
For the first time, the DU authorities acknowledged the term “Gono room” or mass room, an overcrowded room run by the ruling political student wing to accommodate mostly newly admitted students in the university.
The university authorities took the decision on Tuesday during a virtual meeting of the provosts’ committee, held to discuss health risks for students in the post-coronavirus period as well as the overall environment of the dormitories, according to a press release on Wednesday.
Chaired by DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman, the meeting decided that no student would be allowed to stay on the floors of any room.
A student can share a bed with another student but would not be allowed to sleep on the floors, the handout read.
Students in “Gono rooms” usually sleep on the floor.
The participants at the meeting decided to take measures to supply beds in the rooms which do not have necessary accommodation during the ongoing vacation.
It was also decided that only students enrolled in the university currently would be allowed to stay at the halls once the university opened, according to the press release.
Those who are not students cannot stay at the halls in any way and have to vacate the halls within the timeframe given by the authorities.
Many former students are staying in the dormitories of the DU forcibly or illegally, under political patronisation.
The DU authorities earlier attempted to evict illegal occupants from the dormitories several times but were reportedly thwarted by politically-aligned student leaders.
In the absence of such leaders and students on the campus right now, the participants at the meeting asked for cooperation from all active student organizations to put an end to the “Gono room” culture. If the decisions taken at the meeting were implemented, the “Gono room” culture would be curtailed, according to the press note.
The hall authorities were instructed at the meeting to complete the renovation and cleaning of all the dormitories during the lockdown.
The meeting was attended by Pro VC (academic) Prof Nasreen Ahmad, Pro VC (administration) Prof Muhammad Samad, Treasurer Prof Md Kamal Uddin and provosts of all the halls.
The ruling political party-backed student front has always occupied the dormitories as well as the “Gono rooms”, using the residents of these rooms as a source of manpower in any political program.
The Bangladesh Chhatra League has been controlling those rooms since 2009, when the Awami League government began its tenure.
