Resident students face lifestyle squeeze amid price hikes

Soaring inflation and commodity price hikes have put resident students of public universities in a tough spot as paying more for food, including canteen meals, has resulted in a big squeeze on their lifestyle.

They used to spend Tk 20-35 on each canteen meal on average six months back. This has risen to Tk 30-60 now. They are struggling to even buy snacks from dormitory shops because of the price hikes.

For example, a roti or a banana used to cost Tk 5 a few months back, which has now increased to Tk 10-15. An omelette used to cost Tk 12-15, which is now Tk 18-20.

The extra expense is compelling many students to skip one or two meals a day as their families cannot send them additional money. To save money, they are opting for walking instead of taking rickshaws and buying affordable dry food.

There is a long-standing allegation that public university canteens fail to serve quality food while the meal quantity is not adequate either. Students now say prices have increased but food quality or quantity has not. Instead, it is getting worse.

A major segment of the students residing in the dormitories of 52 public universities often come from villages or small towns. Many of them usually are not from well-off families. They live in dorms to get a better study environment and also because the living cost is low.

Sadekur Rahman Sunny, who lives in Hazi Muhammad Mohsin Hall at the University of Dhaka, said, “I have to spend Tk 10-15 more on every meal. There are also additional costs if I eat more items.”

He said he now spends at least Tk 3,000 extra on food every month, adding he would have to privately tutor more students to keep up with the price hikes.

Mridha Hasib, a resident student of Jatir Janak Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall at the same university, told The Business Post he now buys less expensive notebooks, pens, and other stationery items as he has to pay more for food.

“My earnings as a private tutor have not increased in the last six months. Sometimes I have to take pictures of the pages of a book with my phone instead of buying it to continue my study as earning extra money is not possible for me,” he explained.

Many students believe universities should set affordable prices of canteen meals considering students’ plights and there should be a concrete quality control mechanism in canteens as well.

But this is not happening due to a lack of goodwill, they said.

The University of Dhaka allocates only Tk 0.54 per day for food quality improvement. It allocated Tk 45 lakh for this purpose in the current fiscal year, up from Tk 37 lakh in FY22.

But still, the amount is never adequate, students said.

“Vice-chancellors appointed under political consideration do not have time to bother about canteen food quality in dorms. There is a huge difference between the meal quality of teachers and students,” Ekushey Padak winner and eminent scholar Professor Dr Syed Anwar Husain said.

Several hall provosts of different universities said dorms are usually run by the student wings of the ruling party.

Even if food allocations are small, it is possible to provide more nutritious food if money is spent on quality improvement, they added.

Professor Dr Muhammad Samad, pro-vice chancellor (administration) at the University of Dhaka, said food prices had risen all over the world and people’s livelihoods had also been affected.

“We must try to make the best use of what is within our means. The university administration will have a meeting to decide how we can provide a solution for resident students amid the price hikes.”

The university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman said, “We are always sincere in improving the quality of food for resident students.”

Why is food quality terrible?

Dormitory canteens are usually operated by outsiders, who pay less rent than any restaurant outside the campus.

Canteen operators claimed that leaders of student wings of the party in power extort a specific amount of money from them every month. These leaders eat in canteens without paying. They also often compel the canteen authorities to cook better meals for them separately.

“This means 30-40 per cent of our profit goes to them in the form of cash or food,” said a canteen manager.

Students alleged hall canteens never maintain proper hygiene and use the lowest-quality cooking oil and spices available in the market. Every year, many students are admitted to university medical centres with stomach ache and food poisoning.

An employee at the Dhaka University medical centre said, “Many students come here with serious gastrointestinal issues, such as nausea and vomiting, food poisoning, and diarrhoea. They do not eat healthy food, and this causes food poisoning.”

The situation is almost the same at the University of Rajshahi, Jahangirnagar University, and the University of Chittagong. They have also increased food prices but did nothing to improve quality.

Roman Ahmed, a student of history living in Syed Amer Ali Hall of the University of Rajshahi, said, “Lunch and dinner prices in the canteen were Tk 24 and Tk 18 respectively before. Now they have increased prices by Tk 4 per meal.”

“This does not seem a lot. But if we want to eat other items with the meal, that becomes expensive,” he said. “At the end of the month, we are spending Tk 2,000 more though the food quality has not changed at all.”

Mahmudul Hasan, a third-year student at the University of Chittagong who lives in Suhrawardy Hall, said the quality of food served in hall canteens is below average.

“Either we earn by working as private tutors or our families send us money. The prices of everything have increased, and we are paying more to eat the same quality food,” he added.

The increased prices of everything – from transportation to study materials – are also affecting students’ ability to eat proper meals outside the campus.

“After getting admitted to the university, we usually offer private tuition to earn pocket money. But the money we get is not enough to keep up with the daily expenses now,” said Fariah Hossain Labonno, who lives in Jahanara Imam Hall at Jahangirnagar University.

“The hall canteen operators increased meal prices by 15-20 per cent. Even if we want to cook our own food, which is not always possible due to study pressure, the prices of oil, rice, chicken, and fish are still beyond a student’s reach,” she added.

However, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) students said they are happy with the canteen food quality. They said the absence of student politics has contributed to the consistency of food quality.

A resident of Sabekun Nahar Sony Hall at BUET said, “Food is good here in both canteen and dining hall. The prices of some items in the canteen have been increased by up to Tk 5.”

Dr Sheikh Abdus Salam, vice-chancellor of Islamic University in Kushtia, said, “We took some initiatives to improve food quality and overall living conditions of students, but the recent price hikes have become a major obstacle.”

“Canteen operators react by saying they will leave the business if the university administration wants to reduce food prices. Getting government help in this regard is also a long process. We are trying our best to address the situation.”