Khulna hotel accommodates 765 candidates for free

A hotel in Khulna city has provided free accommodation to 765 candidates of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet) admission test.

The aspirants -- 685 males and 80 females -- checked in Hotel Tiger Garden International on Thursday noon and left yesterday afternoon after attending the entry test of Kuet, hotel sources said.

Separate accommodation was arranged for them. Male candidates stayed in Banquet Hall while the female ones in the conference room, said hotel authorities. Many of their family members stayed with them, they added.

Alongside the accommodation facility, candidates received food and transport services from hotel authorities.

Sena Kalyan Sangstha, Bangladesh, the owning agency of Hotel Tiger Garden International, has been providing such services for the last five years, Maj Shahiduzzaman Shaheen (retd) told The Daily Star.

During the admission test, many candidates from different districts across the country spend nights at bus stands, train stations as they have nowhere to stay in the city.

Shahiduzzaman, project head of the hotel, said they took the initiative considering their problems. The candidates were provided transport to go to  the examination hall from the hotel, he said.

Those who have no accommodation facility in Khulna send the hotel authorities messages, then they are included in the service, said Shahiduzzaman, adding that they are informed about it via Facebook.

“Those who are incapable to rent accommodation usually get this opportunity,” he added.

Ayon Roy, one of the candidates from Rajshahi, told this newspaper that he stayed at Banquet Hall with others. “I applied for the service after I had noticed a Facebook post by the hotel authorities,” he said.

“The hotel authorities gave us food and transport to reach the exam centre on Kuet campus, which is 19km away from the hotel,” said Ayon Roy.

Sheikh Shamim Ahmed, manager of the hotel, said 400 candidates received the service last year.

A total of 12,348 candidates sat for the Kuet admission test yesterday to vie for 1,065 seats under 16 departments, said Monoj Kumar Majumder, public relation officer of the university.