Are the girls' hostels as good as the boys' hostels?

Given the low proportion of girls’ hostels to boys’ hostels at IIT Madras, it is natural to have concerns about the safety, the hygiene and the general facilities the girls’ hostels offer. However, the hostels have proven all such concerns unfounded by offering and maintaining comfortable living conditions and facilities. 

All girls hostels are located in fairly green areas with proximity to messes, food courts and the general facilities like on-campus convenience stores. Three of them—Swarnamukhi, Sabarmati and Sharavati—are clustered near the Vindhya mess and are very close to the Central Library as well. Students from these hostels can easily access services such as laundry, ironing, snacks and refreshments, and even shop at a convenience store in the Student Facilities Centre (SFC). Tunga and Bhadra are located near the Himalaya Mess Halls and the Nilgiri mess. These hostels are at a prime location where facilities such as the Institute Gym and Sports Centre are in close proximity, not to mention the basketball courts and badminton courts. 

All girls hostels have a fairly good number of single, double and triple occupancy rooms, some with even quadruple occupancy rooms. Each wing of a hostel, comprising nearly 8 rooms, shares one bathroom, which has multiple stalls and restrooms. All the hostels are cleaned on a daily basis by the cleaning staff, and they even help students clean rooms on request. Each student would have one cot, one fan, one tubelight, multiple charging ports, a cupboard, a table and a chair allotted to them in every room. A LAN port is also provided to each student in order to access high-speed internet in the rooms.

Most of the girls hostels have sports rooms, gym rooms and other recreational facilities such as TV and music system in the common rooms. Equipment for tennis, table tennis, hockey, badminton and even cricket is available in the hostels. Each floor will have spacious dump rooms which can be used by students to store their stuff when they go home during vacations or on long internships. Some girls hostels have good quality vending machines which are restocked twice daily and can be used by other hostels as well. Each bathroom has working washing machines to make students’ life easier. 

All due care is taken to ensure the safety of the students. Lady guards are on duty at all times of the day and assist students in various ways. All hotels have fingerprint access to ensure that no unauthorized person enters the hostels. No males, not even the parents of students, are allowed inside. Male laborers and other staff are accompanied by the hostel manager or other officials to ensure safety of the students, while working or during maintenance work in rooms, corridors or washrooms. Security patrolling is active at night to ensure that no untoward incidents happen. 

IIT Madras hostels help each individual to grow and focus on their interests by facilitating whatever they can, and developing the hostel infrastructure every year, helping students make their hostel life comfortable and memorable.