MUMBAI, July 31 -- Outstation students planning to enroll in post-graduate courses at Mumbai University's Kalina campus are facing a tough choice - limited hostel rooms and sky high rents are forcing some to reconsider their plans. While there are four women's hostels at the campus, there's only one for boys and one international boys' hostel. The boys' hostel, Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Hostel, has a capacity of just 80 students but it packs in 110. Students have asked the university authorities to allow them to use the newly built international boys' hostel, which can accommodate 65. Reserved exclusively for foreign students, it currently has only 10 occupants. The only other university boys' hostel is Jugonnath Sunkersett Hall University Hostel at Churchgate. With a count of 178 students, it is far from the Kalina campus. "I was admitted to the PhD programme in 2022 and received hostel accommodation later. But now the university has issued a circular saying that only students who have daily lab work are eligible for hostel rooms," said Rajesh Patole, a research scholar from the Department of Civics and Politics. "This means students from humanities are being excluded." Patole, a first-generation learner from Shirur village in Pune district, has completed research fellowships in Taiwan and other countries. "We are now being asked to move to the Churchgate hostel, but our research requires access to a library on the Kalina campus. If we shift to Churchgate, it would be difficult to access the library every day," he said. Bagging a hostel room was never easy anyway. The university reserves hostel seats by department and also allocates rooms based on caste categories. It also assigns preference to students from outside Maharashtra. As a result, students from other parts of the state find it difficult to secure a place. On Wednesday a group of students met with the university registrar to press their demands. "The meeting was not fruitful but we will submit a formal letter to the university authorities on Thursday," said a student present in the meeting. He pointed out that hostel rents are an average Rs.11,500 a year, while rental accommodation in Mumbai is out of the reach of most students. A student from Jammu & Kashmir shared his frustration, "I applied for hostel accommodation in Kalina after joining my post-graduate course, but was told there was no space. I'm currently staying at a friend's house in the suburbs, but that's temporary. I tried finding paying guest accommodation in Santacruz, but it's just too expensive. If I don't get a hostel room soon, I'll have to cancel my admission." Another student from the Konkan said he has not attended a single lecture because he hasn't found a place to stay in Mumbai. "I spent a few days at my grandfather's home, but I can't stay there long. I don't know what to do next," he said. A senior university official said more hostel accommodation has been planned but he couldn't say when these plans will materialize. "Considering the gap between demand and available accommodation, we have decided to expand our hostel facilities under various government schemes," the official said. He claimed construction of a new hostel for 50 girl students will begin soon under the PM-USHA scheme. "We are also planning two larger hostels - one for 500 students (250 seats each for boys and girls) under the social justice department and another for 500 students (250 seats each for boys and girls) under the tribal development department," the official added....