public ActionResult HostelTransaction(StudentSearchViewModel userInput)
        {
            TransactionHelper helper = new TransactionHelper();
            // make an attempt to find the student and display the form, if not possible, show error
            HostelTransactionViewModel viewModel = helper.ConstructViewModelForHostelTransaction(userInput.bid);

            if (viewModel != null)
            {
                // generate the list of account heads to be displayed and add it to the view bag
                ViewBag.acHeadList = new SelectList(helper.GetAccountHeads(), "id", "val");

                // generate the list of payment types to be displayed and add it to the view bag
                ViewBag.paymentTypeList = new SelectList(helper.GetPaymentTypes(false), "id", "val");

                //generate the list of academic years to be displayed and add it to the view bag
                ViewBag.academicYearList = new SelectList(helper.GetValidAcademicYears(viewModel.year), DateTime.Now.Year + "");

                // display the form
                return(PartialView("_AddHostelTransation", viewModel));
            }
            else
            {
                return(Content("Student not found"));
            }
        }