Students of Garware college prefer to stay in hostel

Seven students, who live in Garware college hostel, prefer to stay here and take necessary precautions than risk passing on infection to others

Students of Garware college prefer to stay in hostel

Seven students, who live in Garware college hostel, prefer to stay here and take necessary precautions than risk passing on infection to others

Seven students living in Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science hostel have decided to ignore the government's directive to leave the city for seven days and go to their villages in view of the swine flu situation.

While students from the 150-odd colleges, including 247 students both boys and girls at the Garware hostel, have headed for home in the last two days, after District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar declared a seven-day closure for all educational institutions in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, these seven students have decided to stay put for the time being.

However, Dr Shrikant Gupta, principal, Garware College, who is of the opinion that infected students may inadvertently carry the H1N1 virus to rural areas, has appealed to students to remain where they are.u00a0u00a0u00a0

"Many of our students are from other states and their worried parents want them to return to their villages," explained Sudhir Gade, deputy rector of Garware College Hostel.

Rohit Sarda, an MCom-II student from Sambalpur, Orissa, and Amit Zodge, a student of MSc-II) from Manchar, Ghodegaon, told this reporter that they had decided to stay. "We are providing them hygienic food, magazines and newspapers. They continue to work on their post-graduate research projects," said Gade.

"It is better to stay in Pune and take necessary precautions than go home and expose others to the virus," said Zodge.

Meanwhile, Dilip Sheth, rector, S P College Hostel, who had vacated the hostel on August 8, said he was forced to declare an eight-day closure after a girl student tested positive for swine flu. "We had no choice but to close the hostel in order to prevent the virus from spreading. All 250 students, 150 boys and 100 girls, have left for their native places," said Sheth.