Chennai Govt College Students Face Severe Shortage of Clean Toilets and Water

Students across several government institutions in Chennai, including the Government Arts and Science College in R K Nagar, are facing severe basic amenity crises, struggling with non-functional toilets, dry taps, and dysfunctional drinking water systems.

At the Government Arts and Science College in R K Nagar, students cannot use the campus restrooms because the taps have no running water. The sanitation crisis extends across the region, with clean toilets also lacking at Dr Ambedkar Government Arts College in Vyasarpadi, Rajeswari Vedachalam Government Arts College at Chengalpet, and the Government Arts and Science College in Perumbakkam.

In addition to sanitation issues, drinking water accessibility remains a major hurdle. While water purifiers were recently installed in government colleges, most have become dysfunctional due to a lack of routine maintenance.

Yasmeen, a student from a city government college, explained that access to clean drinking water is the primary challenge faced by students, leading them to arrange for their own water cans. She also stated that due to the absence of sanitary workers on campus, students have taken to cleaning the classrooms themselves once a week.

Infrastructure problems also affect premier institutions in the city. Presidency College, which is ranked among the top 20 colleges in the country, suffers from inadequate laboratory facilities for its science students. Muthukaruppan, a student from Presidency College, said that there are not enough chemicals available to conduct experiments and that the existing lab equipment is outdated.

These basic amenity struggles come even as the state government moves to introduce four-year undergraduate degree programmes. Concurrently, academic staffing shortages persist across the state. The 181 government arts and science colleges have more than 7,000 vacancies, while the recruitment process for 2,700 assistant professors continues to progress at a snail’s pace. The lack of staff and facilities has impacted student admissions, leaving 35,171 of the 1,29,831 available seats vacant this academic year.