HOME AWAY FROM HOME

ABOUT 75% OF THE 37 MILLION STUDENTS IN INDIA PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION LIVE AWAY FROM HOME. AT HOSTELS, PGs, AND OTHER RUN-OF-THE-MILL OPTIONS, THE EXPERIENCE IS FAR FROM IDEAL: UNHEALTHY FOOD, POOR HYGIENE, CRAMPED ROOMS, AND NOSY LANDLORDS. A CLUTCH OF STARTUPS ARE LOOKING TO CHANGE IT ALL.

- ANSHUL DHAMIJA

“One of the biggest casualties of eight years of college is… well… right before you: 15 kg of unadulterated weight that just won’t go away,” said OxfordCaps co-founder and CEO Annu Talreja during a presentation at a summit for startups last year, setting off chuckles among the audience. “College changes my definition of the food pyramid,” she said, pointing to the projector screen which showed one titled “Casualties of Hostel Life”. “I stuck to the bottom part of it [liquid diet, carbs, fast food, and free food].”

TALREJA WAS TALKING ABOUT a time more than 15 years ago. Yet, nothing had changed, she said. Parents are earning many times more and spend more for their children, but problems with student housing solutions such as paying guest (PG) facilities when she was a student remain: unhealthy and undercooked food (“… rotis so dry you could shake off the uncooked flour …”), poor hygiene, cramped rooms lacking ventilation, and nosy landlords. “We are reinventing this experience at OxfordCaps,” she said.

Student housing is largely an unorganized and fragmented sector. Real estate consultancy firm Anarock Property Consultants says of the 37 million students pursuing higher education in India, more than 75% live away from home. Existing hostel facilities can accommodate only 18%-20% of this migrant student population.