'FEELS LIKE HOME HERE'

With apps for using everything from the mess to laundry services, specialist firms are bringing a new level of ease and convenience to private university hostel residents.

-  Sheena Sachdeva

Aishwarya Pande, a second-year master's student at OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat Haryana, found the campus far more comfortable than the private college in Dehradun she had graduated from. Practically everything she can possibly need to stay on campus can be arranged for from her phone. Restaurants on campus take orders through a mobile application; another app is used to manage utilities and services like water supply and laundry.

Many private universities, including OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat and Manipal Academy of Higher Education's (MAHE), Mangalore, Bangalore, and Udupi campuses have outsourced their student and campus facilities to organisations like Zolo Scholar, a platform of ZoloStays, and Good Hosts Spaces.

These organisations use technology to streamline the use of available services with students able to access them from their phones. Even campuses that have not outsourced their management to such firms, there are more options and facilities than older institutions could offer.

App-based services

Student residences in OP Jindal's Sonipat campus are managed by Good Host Spaces. For all the eating joints within the campus, students have apps to assist them in their use of the cafeteria and order food from restaurants on campus. "For mess facilities, another app is used by students which gives them a coupon for every meal where students can scan it and can take a meal. This helps in checking on the number of students and accountability," said Pande. "Even for the maintenance part, all the rooms are cleaned as and when the notifications are received from the students. We don't have to go around asking. It's quite convenient."