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The recent collapse of the auditorium roof at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Dwarka, on August 29, 2023, has raised several burning questions pertaining to the ignorance of college administrations and poor infrastructure management at DU colleges.

On Tuesday, the newly-built auditorium at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College in Dwarka witnessed a chunk of its ceiling collapsing, barely a few months after a similar infrastructure catastrophe occurred at Kamala Nehru College. However, sources have reported that no injuries were sustained since nobody was present in the auditorium at the time of the accident.

A part of the roof, the false-ceiling of the auditorium—all bricks and plaster—collapsed. The auditorium was closed after that, causing our annual orientation programme for freshers, Deekshaarambh which was to be conducted between 31st August and 2nd September to be postponed until further notice. The accident occurred exactly a day after an event related to the G-20 was conducted in the auditorium.

– Student at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College

The mishap has raised several eyebrows because of the award-winning infrastructure that the college houses. The college, which was shifted to a new campus in Dwarka in 2016 because of worsening infrastructure at its old campus in Karampura, has received the Vishwakarma Award 2017 for its state-of-the-art building. All the classrooms, lecture theatres, library, computer centre, cafeteria, and most of the laboratories are fully air-conditioned. The campus has rainwater harvesting, solar power generation, and a sewage treatment plant with a water recycling facility.

Despite such top-notch facilities, most students point out that the major reason behind the roof accident could be ‘poor maintenance’ by the college administration over the years since the college shifted to the new campus in Dwarka in 2016. Asking about the condition of the general infrastructure of the college, students mention that it is common for lifts to malfunction, the stairs are in bad condition, and the new campus has fallen into rust with time.

The auditorium has been closed by the college administration, with no updates on when it will be reopened as of now. Related to the ignorance of the administration, another student mentioned,

The general infrastructure of the college was good initially, but its buildings are snapping and need maintenance. But the administration is not taking swift action.

Infrastructure woes have troubled DU colleges for years. But frequent, life-threatening mishaps need to be treated seriously. Voices should be raised against poor infrastructure, low college funds, and the malfunctioning of the administration department. It is, after all, a question of students’ and faculty’s safety. Why are college funds not diverted to maintain college infrastructure? Why does the administration hardly ever step up during such deadly accidents? Are infrastructure mishaps going to plague DU forever? Where does this end?

Featured Image Credits: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College Website

Priyanka Mukherjee
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Protest at KMC Stopped by Principal

By DU Beat February 26, 2020

Kirori Mal College (KMC) administration stops concerned students from protesting on campus due to lack of administrative approval, allegedly said that such events will not be allowed to take place on campus.

After days of sustained communal violence in parts of Northeast Delhi, instigated by Hindutva goons and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders such as Kapil Mishra against the Muslim communities in the area, concerned students from KMC decided to hold a protest gathering in the canteen lawn at 12:40 PM on 26^th February 2020. This protest was however not allowed to carry on. After initial sloganeering against the communal violence and calling for the arrest of Kapil Mishra, who had incited the violence, the protesters were confronted by Dr. Vibha Singh Chauhan, the Principal of Kirori Mal College.

The Principal ordered for the protest to be stopped citing lack of approval from the administration. She can be heard in a video recording dismissing one of the protesters who pointed out that the process for approval was not available and easy for common students, which she refuted saying that the process is available and these events should be held only with approval.

Lakshay Talwar, a third-year Political Science student who was part of the protest said that it was called to march around campus to collectivize people to show the gravity of the situation and to build some resources in the form of people willing to help. He says that when they were confronted by the Principal, the students tried to negotiate saying that they will conduct a silent march which was not allowed.

Talwar, along with two other protesters held a meeting with the Principal in her room. He describes the events as follows, “She initially is adamant about the fact that they need to take permission because if they don’t, other groups can see it as a means to instigate violence, which is absurd considering that it was a peace march. After which, when asked for permission to hold a peace march on the next day with prior intimation, the Principal denied them permission going back on her previous statement. The reasoning given by her was the safety of the students and avoiding violence.”

Lakshay said that they pointed out that collectivization in campus spaces is a means of safety as Kashmiri and Muslim students on campus already don’t feel safe, and that it is already the administration’s responsibility to make sure that violence does not occur. The Principal continued to deny the responsibility of the administration for the safety of the students. Lakshay stated that when they pointed out dissent is a democratic exercise, the Principal replied with, “If you think this is undemocratic, so be it but I am not granting you permission, you do it outside of college.” The problem with doing it outside of college is more dangerous to the student’s safety from right-wing groups, a responsibility which the Principal refused to take today.

DU Beat has reached out to the college for comments on the matter, to which there has been no reply. This report will be updated if they comment on this issue.

Featured Image Credits: Anonymous

DU Beat Correspondent

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Protest Surrounding Annual Fest at Motilal Nehru College

By Shivani Dadhwal February 20, 2020

Motilal Nehru College(MLNC) witnessed a two-hour-long protest organised by the Student Union; many students blocked the college gate, making it difficult for vehicles to enter or exit. The protest was called off and many students went down to the Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) office to protest again.

It all began from MNLC’s Student Union’s desire to have a high budget fest this season. Before this year; the cultural society of MLNC(M), the student union of MLNC(M), and the student union of MLNC(E) used to have separate fests with separate names. This year, all of them collectively decided to have a single, high budget fest. There were many issues within the organising committee itself regarding the name of the fest, given all 3 used to have different names, but more problems awaited them owing to lack of cooperation from the administration.

As it goes at any other college’s fest, the organising committee worked day and night to gather sponsorship and finalise an artist to make their event bigger and better. The union had finally locked down Punjabi Singer “Karan Aujla” and even a pseudo-MoU had been signed. Whatsapp Groups of the students of MLNC saw this graphic being circulated.

But shortly after, the administration office introduced several restrictions for this new fest, they demanded no other student apart from MLNC to be able to enter or attend the Star Night event. This caused a lot of backlash from the student community and only half an hour later, these two graphics were circulated amongst similar groups.

Next Morning, many students participated in the protest organised by the Student’s Union. The Student’s Union highlighted many incidents of Corruption from the Administration office, giving examples of Letterheads and lack of Nescafe booths in the college premises, and demanded for the star night to be brought back with their demands and for the administration to cooperate regarding the signatures on the MoUs.

An English Professor from MLNC said, “There is always a gap between the understanding of the advisory committee of the Student’s Union and the people from the Student’s Union. If they claim for the Administration (office) to be corrupt, you cannot ignore the fact that they are somewhat corrupt too and this might be the reason that they joined student politics in the first place.”

According to the Union and the organising committee, the administration office has not been really helpful or supportive regarding the annual fest ever, and this year has been way worse compared to previous years and the efforts being put in the Student Union.
The sit-in protest at the college gate lasted for almost 2 hours, during which only selected vehicles could enter or exit the gates. This led to disruption in the day-to-day activities of the college and after a while, the protest had to be called off because of pressure by the Police officials and the administration.

Featured Image Credits: Anonymous

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Campus Central

Bazinga: DU to Install Centrally Air Conditioned Systems in Colleges

By Avnika Chhikara January 8, 2019

Delhi University to ensure centrally air conditioned campuses, due to the growing climate concerns.

Delhi University issued a statement on the 7th of January, 2019 that it will instal central air conditioners in all the college campuses. The proposal is set to be in motion from the new academic year (July onwards). On a trial basis, a few select colleges will have these installed. Depending on the affect or reaction of the college community, this measure will be taken on a full-fledged mode.

The reason, issued earlier, is the shifting climatic conditions. With the northern India witnessing a cold wave, it is expected that the summers will be as scorching as ever. Heena Garg, a student of Maitreyi College says, “The college infrastructure, especially the ventilation is a big problem in classrooms. The rooms are very stuffy and it creates a lot of problems in the hot summer months. The fans do not work properly. It results in a lot of discomfort among students.” A lot of private universities have already adopted the centrally conditioned system in their campuses. Infrastructure is still a major issue faced by a lot of Government or state based colleges.

Professor Yogesh Tyagi, the 22^nd Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, expresses his views on this decision, “It is about time the Delhi University improves its infrastructural facilities. Addition of the centrally conditioned campus will be a major boost for the University and will benefit the students and staff.”

With the rising levels of pollution and lack of pure air in the Capital’s air index, a lot of households are also shifting to centrally treated air conditioning. Their growth in the Indian markets has been very restricted as compared to that of their western counterparts, where every house is already centrally conditioned. India is lagging behind in this lifestyle concern as its affordability is restricted only to the rich.

Apeksha Jain, a second year B.Com. student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College comments, “In a city which has such extreme climates, DU’s decision for central air conditioning is a really good one. it will improve campus engagement and attraction, and improve the existing infrastructural conditions of the university.” While some of the colleges in DU provide air conditioned classes to its students, the call is for a campus wide change for the better.

Feature Image credits: Interact Classroom

Avnika Chhikara

[email protected]

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