As a result, the students chose a sarcastic way of protest by sticking posters on the campus saying ‘provost is missing’ and ‘provost has passed away’ to highlight their problems and the negligence of the hall provost.

“Our hall canteen has been closed for more than 15 days. Besides, the water filters don’t work, the washrooms are unusable and the accommodation crisis is acute,” said a residential student of the hall, requesting anonymity.

“The provost did not take any initiative to resolve these problems. Basically, he does not care about the problems of the students,” the student added.

This correspondent tried to contact the hall provost Prof Mohammad Moqbul Bhuiyan several times over the phone, but he neither received the calls nor replied to the message.

However, the picture is almost the same in other halls of the university. Though some provosts are doing great, most of the hall provosts are not performing their duties properly, the students said.

“There are so many problems we face in our day-to-day hall life. We routinely have sub-standard canteen meals. Moreover, the environment of the canteen is not up to the mark. It always remains dirty and messy.

Sometimes we enter the canteen to have meals, but moments later we experience the unhygienic environment and bad smell which prevent us from taking our meals,” said a final-year student of Salimullah Muslim Hall.

“Provost sir seems indifferent to our sufferings. We didn’t see any steps taken by the provost to upgrade the food quality or the overall environment of the canteen. We are left with no option except to hope that initiatives will be taken without unnecessary delay to solve these problems,” the student added.

Another resident of Kabi Jasimuddin Hall said that there is a seat crisis in their reading rooms and living rooms.

“Different organizations play loud music in the hall playground on a regular basis disturbing our studies and sleep. In addition, the quality of food in the canteen is low, but the price is higher than in other halls.”

Meanwhile, students are mentally and physically tortured in the guestrooms of the halls every night by the ‘political seniors’, but the hall provosts turn a blind eye to stop it, the students said.

Moreover, many petty leaders eat free in the hall canteens and the canteen owners recover this loss from the general students by serving substandard meals, said a student of Jatir Janak Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall.

“The provosts are like innocent creatures. All the students now believe that the hall provosts have no power. Nobody even seems to approach them with a complaint because they have no power. In the last five years, I have not seen my hall provost doing anything other than attending various programs and signing papers,” he added.

When contacted, Prof Abdul Bashir, convener of the university’s Provost Standing Committee and provost of Bijoy Ekattor Hall said, “The Vice-Chancellor appoints a professor as provost. In that case, it is usual that the provost will visit the hall regularly and interact with the students, and be by the side of the students in their various needs. I am also a provost. If I don’t go to my hall, it won’t be a good thing.”

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr. Md Akhtaruzzaman told that information is being collected from the halls where provosts are not performing their duties properly.

“If I care about my family then why not about hall? Hall students are also part of our family. Why don’t we use our time, labor, talent, skills, and experience there?”

“That is why I am now paying attention to this matter. I am now talking to the hall authorities from where I got such information. As long as we are in charge, these responsibilities cannot be ignored. These are our moral and professional obligations.”