JNU’s Barak Hostel: Built for northeast students but houses only 12% from the region
Jawaharlal Nehru University's Barak Hostel, originally intended to provide dedicated housing for students from India's northeast, currently houses only 12% of students from that region. The facility has faced criticism for its poor maintenance and failure to meet its primary objective of supporting marginalized students.
Why it matters
The failure of this project highlights ongoing challenges regarding social integration and the protection of students from the northeast against racial discrimination in mainland India.
In 2014, a brutal racial assault on a student from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi triggered many protests and much soul-searching on problems faced by people from the northeast living and studying in the rest of India. A panel formed to study their concerns and suggest solutions and measures noted the need for dedicated accommodation for them. Citing it as a positive feature, it talked about how a hostel dedicated to northeast students was being planned at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
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