The National Institute of Technology, Calicut on Tuesday issued instructions to the inmates of its ladies' hostels against "roaming with boys" inside the residential campus. 

In a circular dated November 22, hostel warden Dr S Bhuvanesvari “strictly instructed” the girl students not to roam around with boy students, in the wake of a number of complaints in this regard. 

The punishment awaiting "defaulters" is quite severe and limited to the girls. 

“If any girl found along with boy student inside residential campus, severe action will be taken against her including suspension and expulsion from hostel,” reads the circular meant for the inmates of Ladies and Mega ladies' hostel. (Update- the notice was taken down on Thursday night). 

All the first year and fourth year girl students are housed at the Ladies hostel, whereas all the remaining students are housed at the Mega ladies’ hostel. The girls’ hostels and faculty apartments are located outside the main campus.  

The boys’ hostel and canteen are located in the main campus, situated on the other side of the road. 

A third-year Electrical and Electronics Engineering student on the condition of anonymity told The News Minute that the students were taken aback on seeing the circular. 

“Never before has such a rule been imposed on us. Many boy students used to come inside the residential campus to drop us off. We were aware that a few faculty members were unhappy about this. We have to pass by their apartments to reach the ladies’ hostels,” she said. 

The student pointed out the bizarre and discriminatory nature of the rule. 

“Many of us had not seen the circular when it was put up yesterday, since our exams are going on now. We came to know about it when one of the girls posted it on our class group in the night. Since then, many of us are upset about the rule. We haven’t yet decided how to respond to it, as we are now busy with our exams,” she said. 

The student added that the only other instance where the hostel officials had imposed an unfair and discriminatory rule on them was when the curfew was set at 7 pm for the girls a few years ago. There was no curfew for the boys. Following protests, the officials extended the curfew to 9 pm. However, since this academic year, the old rule has been brought back, with girl students being allowed to stay out till 9 pm only if they have special permission. 

Despite repeated attempts, TNM was unable to get the warden's response.