PESHAWAR, April 15: Students residing in hostels of the University of Peshawar have complained that they are getting substandard food causing health problems. Many of the students end up having stomach problems because of the unhygienic food served to them in the hostels, a group of students living in the Hostel No 1 said.

According to them, the mess contractors use rotten vegetables available at throwaway prices in the market. "The mess contractors of the hostels entertain the guests of the wardens at the hostels. The wardens are supplied with specially-prepared food.

Therefore, they do not take any action against the contractors," said a waiter, who added that formerly the hostels mess were run by a committee of the students on no-profit no-loss basis due to which the students were getting good food within nominal prices.

Now the mess committees had been abolished and the mess are being run by the hostel warden, who award contracts to the contractors of their choice. For a simple vegetable meal the students pay Rs15-20 and for breakfast they pay Rs12, said a student.

He said not only that the food was costly but it caused health problems for the students. "We have been quite used to getting stomach problems because of food. We cannot stop eating at the hostels because we are compelled to eat whatever is offered by the mess contractors. We have no option at all," said a student at the casualty department of the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

The casualty medical officer said the department had been receiving dozens of university students with stomach problems. "Some of the students suffer from food poisoning because of bad food," said the casualty medical officer. The students suffer immensely when their examinations were in progress, he added.

He said heart-burning and headache were other problems the students faced and these were also due to bad food. Besides the substandard food at the hostels mess, a lot of tikka and chapli kabab outlets being allowed by the administration to operate in the campus also sold bad food.

"They charged more from the students than available in the markets. They are also the blue-eyed boys of the administration from whom the varsity officials take bribes," a student alleged.

A teacher at the Islamia College said the mess contractors used the services of the waiters who were paid by the university. Likewise, he said, gas and electricity bills were also paid by the varsity. Hence, overcharging and supplying bad food was amazing, he added. A contractor said he was not satisfied with his earnings because the students ate more food.