Ashish Sood, Delhi’s Education Minister, held consultations with paying guest (PG) owners and operators to frame mandates for student housing, including the regulation of private PGs, addressing housing safety concerns, and expanding student accommodation.
The Delhi Government held consultations with PG owners, operators, and managers on Monday to understand the “operational perspectives” and key challenges as they draft the ‘Paying Guest Accommodation and Safety Bill, 2026’.
This law was proposed 2 days after September 5, when a boy’s private PG building collapsed in Satya Niketan, killing seven people, five out of whom were students of Delhi University. The collapse of this five-storey building led to increased student concerns regarding unverified landlords, insufficient infrastructural safety and security, high rents and more.
These consultations have occurred about three weeks after a 20-member committee, chaired by Sood, was established to examine and address the safety hazards and shortage of student accommodation in Delhi.
The committee’s proposed regulations include mandatory fire safety reviews, emergency evacuation plans, and regular mock drills for both PG operators and students.
Additionally, the committee has decided to develop a portal wherein PG owners can register their facilities and provide important details, including the size of the building, how old it is, and whether it has the appropriate fire safety measures.
A centralised digital grievance system was also proposed through which students would have the ability to report overcrowding, lease violations and infrastructural safety violations.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Urban Development Department have been given the responsibility of identifying land parcels for the construction of new hostels and investigating the possibility of expanding the accommodation area on campuses. Underused DDA and government buildings will be used for possible conversion into student housing.
Sood said, “Our concern is to ensure that people have access to safe, secure, reliable, and reasonably priced PG accommodations in Delhi”.
Image Source: Ashish Sood on Instagram
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Akshita Gossain
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