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DU initiates Safety Audit of PGs around University

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DU forms an eight-member committee to inspect PG accommodations and assess safety standards after the Satya Niketan building collapse.

Following the tragic PG building collapse in Delhi’s Satya Niketan, Delhi University has constituted an eight-member committee to assess the safety of PG accommodations near the university. This initiative by the university aims at assessing the safety and reliability of the accommodation to ensure that the housing facilities and options around the university are suitable for students. 

The committee is led by Prof. Rajni Abbi, Director, South Delhi Campus, with key members like Prof. Manoj Kumar Singh (Proctor), ​Prof. Bipin Kumar Tiwary (Estate Officer), Prof. K.P. Singh (Department of Library and Information Science), ​Ashok Saini (Chief Engineer), Prof. Sanjay Kumar (Coordinator, NCC) and ​Ashwani Siwal (Faculty of Law). RP Singh (Joint Registrar, Estate) will serve as the committee’s Member Secretary. 

The committee members will conduct on-site inspections to assess the structural conditions, room layouts and overall living conditions of the existing PG accommodations. They will also examine building safety and the availability and quality of essential utilities provided by the PG owners to the students. 

The committee will further verify whether local PG operators possess the necessary approvals and statutory clearances from civic authorities. The university has given the committee 30 days to submit its findings. 

The committee will also draft a legal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed to facilitate the official recognition of PG accommodations by the University. This move aims to improve the reliability of certain PGs and provide students with greater assurance regarding their safety and security. The initiative comes amid growing concerns over the safety of student accommodation in areas surrounding Delhi University.

Image Caption: The collapsed PG building of Satya Niketan 

Image Credit: Business Standard

Read Also: Satya Niketan Building Collapse: Seven Dead, Owner Arrested, Supreme Court to Examine Case

Vanshika U Singh 

[email protected] 

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Delhi University To Add Over 5,500 Hostel Seats, Including 1,000 For Women, After Satya Niketan Collapse

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Following the collapse of a private student accommodation in Satya Niketan that killed seven, Delhi University has announced plans to expand hostel capacity to 12,754 seats, including a new women’s residential facility.

On September 10, Delhi University announced plans to add more than 5,500 new hostel seats, including 1,000 reserved for women. This comes days after a five-storey private accommodation collapsed in Satya Niketan on September 6, killing seven students.

At the university level, seat capacity is set to rise from 3,422 to 7,344; an addition of 3,922 seats. DU-affiliated colleges currently offer around 3,788 hostel seats and are expected to add another 1,622, taking combined capacity to 5,410. The university stated that these projects would increase total hostel capacity across DU and its colleges to 12,754, nearly doubling existing provision.

Among the new projects is a 1,000-seat facility for women called the Nirbhaya Residential Accommodation, as well as a 1,050-seat studio apartment complex. A 1,450-seat hostel at the Dhaka Complex in Mukherjee Nagar, which comes under the Institution of Eminence scheme, is also nearing completion. 

Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh convened a meeting of college principals earlier this week to discuss the Satya Niketan collapse, at which a two-minute silence was observed for the students who passed away due to the tragedy. He asked principals to review existing residential facilities and expedite hostel projects already under construction. The university is also expected to submit fresh hostel proposals to the government. The university also said that this expansion reflects efforts undertaken over the past four to five years, amid renewed scrutiny of the shortage of affordable student housing around DU’s campuses.

Delhi University has over 2.5 lakh students enrolled, with existing hostel capacity accommodating only a fraction of them. This leaves many outstation students dependent on private paying guest accommodation similar to the kind that collapsed in Satya Niketan.

Separately, the National Human Rights Commission has directed the Delhi government and the University Grants Commission to draw up a time-bound plan addressing the shortage of affordable hostel accommodation for outstation students, days after the collapse.

Read Also: UGC-NET Re-examination: NTA Warns Delhi Candidates of Traffic Delays Ahead of BRICS Summit

Image Caption: Rajiv Gandhi Hostel for Girls (RGHG) at DU’s Dhaka Hostel Complex, an existing  postgraduate hostel in Mukherjee Nagar. 

Image Source: Delhi University

Vidhi Ramchandani
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Satya Niketan Building Collapse: Seven Dead, Owner Arrested, Supreme Court to Examine Case

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A five-storey PG, accommodating at least 50 students, collapsed in Satya Niketan on 6th September 2026. A cascade of arrests, demolitions, judicial proceedings, and institutional reckoning over the safety of student housing across the capital follows, with at least 7 people dead. 

At around 1:30 pm on Sunday, 6th September 2026, a five-storey building at Property No. P-14, Satya Niketan, South-West Delhi collapsed. The building, operating as a boys’ accommodation under the name “Hostel Daze”, measured approximately 55 square yards and comprised a basement and four floors above ground level. Preliminary material placed before the Supreme Court indicates that construction-related work was being carried out in or around the basement at the time of the collapse, and reports of waterlogging in the basement had emerged immediately before the incident. Seven people died, and at least twelve were rescued and taken to hospital, including the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital. AIIMS confirmed that of the ten patients received at the JPN Trauma Centre, four were dead on arrival, and one who was in a critical state later succumbed to injuries.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR at the South Campus Police Station under Sections 105, 290, and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The building’s owner, 81-year-old Hariram Gupta, along with his 75-year-old wife, Urmila Gupta, is under judicial custody. Their son, Mahesh Gupta, is under police custody. Five South Zone officers, including a Deputy Commissioner and four structural engineers, were suspended for negligence in oversight.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held demonstrations outside MCD headquarters demanding mandatory structural safety audits for all student accommodations. Some students and family members alleged that the death toll had been underreported, though authorities did not publicly address this claim.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the government was working to draft a policy requiring buildings of a certain age to submit a structural audit report certifying their safety. Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi described the collapse as appearing, prima facie, to be an accident linked to negligence and likely substandard construction materials.

A city-wide order was also issued to seal unauthorised structures exceeding four storeys. Across Delhi, a crackdown followed: 24 properties were demolished and seven sealed as part of an MCD enforcement drive.

The matter reached the Supreme Court on 8th September. A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R. Mahadevan took up the case after Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, Amicus Curiae in an ongoing matter concerning building bye-law violations across the country, sought an early hearing. Sinha’s status report noted that Satya Niketan had not been covered by the Supreme Court’s earlier inspection exercise. Sinha proposed extending the inspection exercise to PG accommodations, private hostels, and student housing establishments across Delhi, covering sanctioned building plans, basement alterations, fire-safety compliance, and structural safety. The Court indicated it may transfer to itself the PIL pending before the Delhi High Court, noting that the issues overlapped with its ongoing pan-India monitoring of building violations.

Separately, the National Human Rights Commission directed authorities to ensure adequate hostel facilities for Delhi University students in light of the incident, underscoring the wider concern that insufficient university-run accommodation pushes students towards unregulated private PGs.

Image Caption: The site of the Satya Niketan building collapse

Image Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap (sourced from The Hindu)

Read Also: ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters 

Rishika Jain
[email protected]


: Seven Dead, Owner Arrested, Supreme Court to Examine Case

A five-storey PG, accommodating at least 50 students, collapsed in Satya Niketan on 6th September 2026. A cascade of arrests, demolitions, judicial proceedings, and institutional reckoning over the safety of student housing across the capital follows, with at least 7 people dead. 

At around 1:30 pm on Sunday, 6th September 2026, a five-storey building at Property No. P-14, Satya Niketan, South-West Delhi collapsed. The building, operating as a boys’ accommodation under the name “Hostel Daze”, measured approximately 55 square yards and comprised a basement and four floors above ground level. Preliminary material placed before the Supreme Court indicates that construction-related work was being carried out in or around the basement at the time of the collapse, and reports of waterlogging in the basement had emerged immediately before the incident. Seven people died, and at least twelve were rescued and taken to hospital, including the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital. AIIMS confirmed that of the ten patients received at the JPN Trauma Centre, four were dead on arrival, and one who was in a critical state later succumbed to injuries.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR at the South Campus Police Station under Sections 105, 290, and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The building’s owner, 81-year-old Hariram Gupta, along with his 75-year-old wife, Urmila Gupta, is under judicial custody. Their son, Mahesh Gupta, is under police custody. Five South Zone officers, including a Deputy Commissioner and four structural engineers, were suspended for negligence in oversight.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held demonstrations outside MCD headquarters demanding mandatory structural safety audits for all student accommodations. Some students and family members alleged that the death toll had been underreported, though authorities did not publicly address this claim.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the government was working to draft a policy requiring buildings of a certain age to submit a structural audit report certifying their safety. Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi described the collapse as appearing, prima facie, to be an accident linked to negligence and likely substandard construction materials.

A city-wide order was also issued to seal unauthorised structures exceeding four storeys. Across Delhi, a crackdown followed: 24 properties were demolished and seven sealed as part of an MCD enforcement drive.

The matter reached the Supreme Court on 8th September. A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R. Mahadevan took up the case after Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, Amicus Curiae in an ongoing matter concerning building bye-law violations across the country, sought an early hearing. Sinha’s status report noted that Satya Niketan had not been covered by the Supreme Court’s earlier inspection exercise. Sinha proposed extending the inspection exercise to PG accommodations, private hostels, and student housing establishments across Delhi, covering sanctioned building plans, basement alterations, fire-safety compliance, and structural safety. The Court indicated it may transfer to itself the PIL pending before the Delhi High Court, noting that the issues overlapped with its ongoing pan-India monitoring of building violations.

Separately, the National Human Rights Commission directed authorities to ensure adequate hostel facilities for Delhi University students in light of the incident, underscoring the wider concern that insufficient university-run accommodation pushes students towards unregulated private PGs.

Image Caption: The site of the Satya Niketan building collapse

Image Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap (sourced from The Hindu)

Read Also: ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters 

Rishika Jain
[email protected]

 

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Campus Central

DUSU Nomination Days Bring Traffic Curbs

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DU announces North Campus traffic restrictions for DUSU nominations, while allowing first-year students without ID cards to file nominations.

The University of Delhi (DU) has announced traffic restrictions on key stretches of North Campus on September 10 and 11 due to the nomination process for the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections. The restrictions are expected to affect vehicular movement as candidates submit their nomination papers and complete the initial stages of the election process. First-year students who have not yet received their university identity cards will also be permitted to file nominations. They must produce a verified fee receipt, a bona fide certificate carrying a passport-size photograph and a government-issued identity card.

According to an advisory issued by the Registrar, vehicular movement will be restricted on Chhatra Marg, Probyn Road, University Road and G.C. Narang Marg on both days. Gate No. 4 of North Campus will also remain completely closed on September 10 and 11. Faculty, staff and students have been directed to park their vehicles inside Gate No. 1, provided they possess authorised university parking stickers. DU Proctor Manoj Kumar Singh said the restrictions have been implemented as the nomination process is scheduled to begin.

As per the schedule issued by the Chief Election Officer, candidates must submit their nomination papers along with a demand draft of ₹500 and the required affidavits by 3 p.m. on September 10. Nomination papers for DUSU office-bearers will be submitted in a sealed box at the Office of the Chief Election Officer at the Conference Centre, opposite the Botany Department near Gate No. 4. Papers for Central Council membership will be submitted at the respective colleges and departments.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will begin at 3:15 p.m. on September 10, followed by publication of the list of duly nominated candidates by 6 p.m. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until 12 p.m. on September 11, after which the final list will be published. Voting is scheduled for September 18, while counting will be held on September 19. 

Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police has issued a separate advisory regarding Chhatra Samvad and election canvassing. Traffic movement around North Campus is likely to be affected between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The affected roads include Mall Road, Sudhir Bose Marg, Chhatra Marg, University Road, GTB Marg, Satyawati Marg and Professor N.D. Kapoor Marg.

Traffic may be regulated or diverted at several intersections depending on ground conditions. Commuters have been advised to avoid these routes, use the Metro, refrain from roadside parking, and allow additional travel time.

 

Also Read: ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters

Image Source: University of Delhi

 

Bishakha Gogoi
[email protected] 

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Features

The Swarn Uthao Andolan: How “Merit” Became the New Vocabulary of Caste Privilege

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Protesters gather at a Reservation Reforms Andolan rally in Delhi
Protesters gather at a Reservation Reforms Andolan rally in Delhi
Protesters at a Reservation Reforms Andolan rally in Delhi.

What do you call a movement that begins by demanding “Reservation Hatao”, borrows Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s language of resistance, and then quietly discovers the softer vocabulary of “reform” the moment its politics become uncomfortable?

Perhaps the answer is simpler than its organisers would like.

It was never a Reservation Hatao Andolan. It was a Swarn Uthao Andolan—an upper-caste mobilisation that rediscovered the language of merit only after centuries of inherited advantage became vulnerable to constitutional correction.

A Movement That Knew Its Moment

This movement did not arise out of nowhere. In July and August, India had already witnessed the extraordinary mobilisation around the CJP protests, where students and young people showed how quickly digital anger could turn into physical protest. The Reservation Hatao Andolan (RHA) appeared to absorb the lesson: build online first, mobilise offline later.

By August 21, hundreds had gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding changes to caste-based reservation, and more than fifty protesters were detained after the gathering went ahead despite police objections. Days later, Union Minister J.P. Nadda met with representatives of the movement and called the discussions “cordial”.

That meeting matters. A movement does not acquire political confidence merely because an Instagram account goes viral. It acquires confidence when it believes someone powerful is listening.

Reservation Was Never a Poverty Scheme

There is a convenient lie at the heart of the anti-reservation argument: that reservation exists because some people are poor. It does not. Reservation exists because caste, for centuries, determined who could enter institutions, who could own land, who could be educated, who could perform which occupations—and who could be treated as human at all.

Poverty can be measured in rupees. Caste cannot. And the caste system has not disappeared simply because India now has smartphones, coaching centres and competitive examinations.

Even this year, a 65-year-old Dalit man in Lucknow was allegedly beaten and forced to lick his own urine after he urinated near a temple while unwell. In Uttar Pradesh, a Dalit teenager was allegedly stripped and beaten and reportedly made to lick spit off shoes for touching a water bucket. This is the society in which reservation supposedly became unnecessary. The question answers itself.

The Ambedkar They Can Quote

The irony is almost theatrical. The movement’s digital ecosystem freely invokes Ambedkar’s famous command—”Educate, Agitate, Organise”—while campaigning against the very safeguards his politics produced.

Ambedkar did not spend his life merely encouraging education. He fought the social structure that made education, employment, and dignity inaccessible to millions in the first place. The Constitution’s affirmative-action framework grew out of that fight. You can borrow his words. You cannot selectively inherit his politics.

The Great Rename

Then came the rebranding. “Reservation Hatao” quietly became “Reservation Reforms”. The shift is politically revealing. “Hatao” is blunt—it says exactly what it means: remove it. “Reforms” sounds reasonable. It creates room for income criteria, creamy-layer exclusions and sunset clauses, without ever explaining why the original movement was framed around abolition in the first place.

The movement’s own materials now speak of income-based criteria, “one family, one reservation”, minimum standards and a sunset clause. The policy proposals can be debated on their merits. But the linguistic gymnastics deserve scrutiny in their own right: when a slogan becomes politically expensive, changing the slogan is easier than changing the constituency behind it.

The Politics Behind the Politics

The movement’s public face has drawn familiar voices from the wider right-wing digital ecosystem. YouTuber Ajeet Bharti, for instance, appeared at the August 21 protest, arguing that a “developed India” could not compromise on merit, and called for a white paper on reservation policy.

Bharti’s presence is not an incidental detail. It reveals how quickly an argument about quotas can slide into an argument about identity—who belongs, whose grievance counts, whose presence gets treated as an intrusion. Caste hierarchy and communal majoritarianism are not identical projects. But they understand one another remarkably well.

When Merit Became Brahmanwaad

For years, the respectable vocabulary was simply “merit.” But merit is never just a number beside a candidate’s name. It is shaped by schooling, nutrition, geography, parental education, money, networks, social confidence—and by the presence or absence of discrimination. The mythology of pure merit becomes especially fragile when inherited privilege is mistaken for individual achievement.

That is where Brahmanwaad enters the picture. The deepest problem with this movement is not that every participant is personally driven by caste hatred. It is that the politics can function as a defence of hierarchy while presenting itself as a defence of neutrality. The slogan changes. The hierarchy does not.

The BJP’s Uncomfortable Mirror

For the ruling establishment, this is a double-edged sword. The movement may consolidate upper-caste anxiety, but it risks fracturing the wider coalition by sharpening the divide between privileged-caste grievance and the accumulated anger of historically marginalised communities.

Nadda’s meeting with RHA representatives raises an uncomfortable question: if the government is not considering the dismantling of caste-based reservation, why does an anti-reservation movement receive such direct political engagement? And if reform really is on the table, what happens to the communities whose constitutional safeguards are being questioned? The government can postpone that question. It cannot make it disappear.

The Mirror

Only days earlier, the CJP protests offered a glimpse of something rarer: students discovering solidarity across difference, turning frustration into collective action. The Reservation Hatao Andolan offers the darker image—how quickly grievance can curdle into entitlement, how easily privilege can disguise itself as victimhood, how the language of “merit” can become a respectable wrapper for an older anxiety: what happens when those who once occupied the top are finally asked to share the ladder?

India does not need a society where caste stops mattering on paper while it continues to decide lives in practice. It needs the opposite: a society in which caste finally matters so little that reservation can genuinely become unnecessary.

Until that society exists, abolishing reservation is not the destruction of caste. It is simply the restoration of the old order, without having to call it by its name.




Mayank Scripts
[email protected]
Image Credits: The Print

 

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UGC-NET Re-examination: NTA Warns Delhi Candidates of Traffic Delays Ahead of BRICS Summit

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Delhi Police barricades outside Bharat Mandapam as security arrangements intensify ahead of the BRICS Summit

NTA has advised UGC-NET re-examination candidates in Delhi to plan ahead for possible traffic delays on September 9 and 10 due to BRICS Summit preparations and security-related route diversions.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has advised candidates appearing for the UGC-NET June 2026 re-examination in Delhi on 9 and 10 September to plan their journeys carefully, warning that traffic congestion, diversions and delays are likely due to preparations for the 18th BRICS Summit.

The re-examination will be held over two days. The English paper is scheduled for 9 September from 9 am to 12 noon, followed by Commerce from 3 pm to 6 pm. The Sociology examination will take place on 10 September from 9 am to 12 noon.

In an advisory issued on 8 September, the NTA said the 18th BRICS Summit will be hosted at Bharat Mandapam from 11 to 13 September. Extensive security arrangements are already underway, with traffic restrictions and diversions expected across several parts of the national capital to facilitate the movement of visiting delegations and security personnel. Although the agency clarified that UGC-NET examination centres are not situated in areas expected to face significant restrictions, it cautioned that candidates could still experience delays while travelling. Traffic management measures on connecting roads may increase journey times, particularly for those commuting from different parts of the city.

Candidates have been advised to check the latest traffic updates before leaving for their examination centres, allow extra time for travel, and arrive well before the reporting time stated on their admit cards. The advisory is especially important for those unfamiliar with alternative routes or relying on road-based public transport.

Separately, the Delhi Traffic Police has issued a comprehensive traffic advisory for 11 to 13 September in view of the BRICS Summit, detailing restrictions and diversions across the city. Commuters have been urged to stay updated on traffic arrangements and follow instructions issued by traffic personnel.

The UGC-NET re-examination follows the NTA’s decision to reconduct the English, Commerce and Sociology papers after candidates raised concerns over errors in the question papers. The original UGC-NET June 2026 examination was conducted between 22 and 30 June across 87 subjects.

For candidates appearing in Delhi, the examination schedule remains unchanged. However, the NTA has emphasised that they should factor in additional travel time to avoid delays and ensure they reach their examination centres well before the reporting time.

Aarushi Chaubey

[email protected]

Image Source: Asian News International

Read Also: ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters

 

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DU Gardener’s Death Sparks Protests Over Alleged Institutional Negligence

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delhi university south campus gardener death

A gardener’s death at Delhi University South Campus has sparked student and family protests over allegations that he was made to perform electrical work.

The death of a 33-year-old gardener at Delhi University South Campus has sparked protests from students and the family members of the deceased person, raising allegations that he was made to perform electrical work despite being employed as a gardener.

The police received a PCR call at the South Campus police station around 5:30 pm on Monday, September 7. According to police, the man, who worked as a private gardener at the university, allegedly suffered an electric shock while pruning trees. He was taken to Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The gardener’s death has raised questions about workplace safety and institutional negligence.

Students and family members have alleged that the gardener was made to carry out electrical work despite not being trained for it. SFI Delhi state president Nadia claimed that students alleged he was made to climb a pole to perform electrical work when he suffered an electric shock. Police are yet to confirm these claims.

After his death, the victim’s family and relatives protested outside the campus, demanding action against those responsible. One of these demands also includes a job and compensation for his wife.

The exact circumstances surrounding the electrocution are still under investigation. Police have prepared a medico-legal case (MLC) based on their statement. They’ve also registered an FIR under Section 287, that is, negligent conduct, and Section 106 (1), death by negligence.

 

Image Source: IANS on X 

Read Also: ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters 

 

Ahana Dey

[email protected] 

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ABVP Protest Over Satya Niketan Collapse Turns Violent at MCD Headquarters

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ABVP protesters demanding accountability over the Satya Niketan collapse entered the MCD headquarters and allegedly vandalised the premises, leading to multiple detentions.

A protest by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) over the Satya Niketan building collapse turned violent on Sunday, September 6, as protesters entered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters and allegedly vandalised parts of the premises.

Around 150–200 ABVP students gathered at the Civic Centre, demanding accountability from the MCD over the collapse of a five-storey building being used as a paying guest accommodation in Satya Niketan. Protesters also demanded the resignation of MCD Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar.

According to police, some protesters entered the MCD headquarters through Gate No. 5 and began raising slogans. The situation escalated when protesters attempted to enter the main building, leading to a confrontation with the police.

Glass panels at the premises were allegedly damaged during the protest. Around 15 protesters were detained and taken to Kamla Market police station, while the remaining protesters were dispersed from the area. The demonstration came hours after the Satya Niketan building collapse, which killed at least six people and left several others injured. The building was being used as a PG accommodation in an area heavily populated by students from Delhi University’s South Campus.

ABVP has accused the civic authorities of negligence and demanded an investigation into the safety of student accommodation in the area. The organisation has also called for safety audits of PG accommodations.For students who depend on private PGs around South Campus because hostel options remain limited, the collapse has raised an uncomfortable question: how safe are the buildings they are paying to live in?

The protest, however, added another complication to an already serious situation. While demanding accountability from the authorities, protesters allegedly damaged property at the very office they were asking to take responsibility for student safety.

Whether the protest leads to concrete action on PG safety remains to be seen, but for students living in these accommodations, the question is considerably more immediate.

Image Credits: ANI

Ahana Dey

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Campus Central

DU Colleges Open Doors to Students Displaced After Satya Niketan PG Building Collapse

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Scenes from the Satya Niketan PG collapse as a man clears the debris from the collapsed structure across the road.

Several Delhi University colleges have opened their campuses to students displaced after the Satya Niketan PG building collapse, offering temporary shelter, food and other assistance amid ongoing safety concerns. 

A five-storey building housing a student PG collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan on Sunday, September 6, leaving several people dead and many students displaced from nearby accommodations. The incident has prompted multiple Delhi University colleges to step in with emergency support as students remain concerned about returning to PGs and rented accommodation in the area.

Sri Venkateswara College, located close to the collapse site, has opened its campus to students who have been displaced or cannot safely access their accommodation. The college is providing temporary shelter and food and has cancelled classes on September 7 while relief efforts continue. The arrangement includes students of the college as well as girl students from DU’s South Campus.

Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College has also made its premises available as a temporary safe space and opened its canteen for students, while additional accommodation has reportedly been arranged nearby. Jesus and Mary College has opened its gates to students unable to safely return to their PGs or flats.

Maitreyi College has similarly offered assistance to students facing accommodation difficulties, with displaced students reportedly arriving on campus with their belongings. Motilal Nehru College(Evening) has also opened its premises to students seeking temporary shelter.

Other colleges extending support include Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Gargi College, Lady Shri Ram College and Ram Lal Anand College. Shaheed Bhagat Singh College has published a dedicated notice for students affected by the collapse.

Meanwhile, Aryabhatta College has suspended teaching on September 7. Sri Venkateswara College is also closed for the day as relief efforts continue. Students have been advised to contact their respective colleges to confirm the availability and terms of accommodation before relying on the arrangements.

Image Credit: Satakshi for DU Beat

Read Also: PM Modi Attends SRCC’s Centenary Celebrations on Teachers’ Day

Aarushi Chaubey
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Arts & Culture

When Did Doing Nothing Become So Difficult?

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“We are less bored than our ancestors were, but we are more afraid of boredom.”  ~Bertrand Russell

When was the last time you were truly bored?

Not bored for the three seconds it takes for a video to load, or bored enough to complain before opening Instagram. I mean the kind of boredom where there is genuinely nothing to do. No music playing, no conversation to have, no notifications to check, no screen to scroll through. Just time. For many of us, that kind of boredom has become almost unfamiliar.

The moment there is a gap in our day, we fill it. We scroll while waiting for class, put on music while travelling, watch something while eating, and reach for our phones when a conversation goes quiet. Even sleep has become something that needs background noise. Silence, once something we simply lived with, has become something we are quick to fill. But why?

The usual answer is that technology has shortened our attention spans. Our phones constantly offer us something new, and we have become accustomed to it. But that only explains how we escape boredom, not why we are so desperate to escape it.

We have become accustomed to filling every empty moment, often without questioning why. Perhaps the more interesting question is not why we get bored, but why being left alone with our thoughts can feel so uncomfortable.

 

The objective was never really to watch something. It was to avoid the feeling of having nothing to watch. But what exactly are we trying to escape when we run from boredom?

 

Boredom creates an unusual kind of empty space. Without something external demanding our attention, our own thoughts become harder to ignore. An argument with a friend, a pending assignment that you haven’t started working on, loneliness, uncertainty about the future, or maybe an embarrassing incident– basically, everything we regard as ‘overthinking’.

 

A 2024 study by Katy Y. Y. Tam and Michael Inzlicht revisits this paradox that despite having almost unlimited access to entertainment, people may actually be experiencing more boredom. According to the study, our attempts to escape boredom through digital media may sometimes be making it worse.

Across seven experiments involving 1,223 participants, Tam and Inzlicht found that boredom encouraged people to switch between videos and fast-forward through content. Participants expected this constant switching to make them less bored. Instead, switching often increased boredom while reducing attention, satisfaction and the sense that the content was meaningful.

We scroll because we are bored, but the constant search for something more interesting may be making it harder to become interested in anything at all. And now, we are stuck in a vicious cycle.

This is also evident in the way we consume short-form content. A video takes a few seconds too long to get to the point, so we swipe. The next one is not interesting enough, so we swipe again. Soon, we have moved through twenty pieces of content without really paying attention to any of them.

This does not mean that every person who checks their phone is secretly avoiding their feelings. Nor is distraction inherently harmful. Sometimes we simply want entertainment. But when every moment of silence is immediately filled, we lose the opportunity to find out what happens when we do not fill it.

A 2014 study published in Science explored this discomfort directly. Participants were asked to sit alone in a room for between 6 and 15 minutes with nothing to do except think. The researchers found that many participants struggled with the experience. In one experiment, some even chose to give themselves mild electric shocks rather than remain alone with their thoughts. The findings have since been debated and should not be reduced to the claim that people universally hate their own thoughts, but the study nevertheless demonstrated how difficult unstructured time can be for some people.There is, however, another side to boredom.

When there is nothing immediately demanding our attention, the mind can wander. In a 2014 study, psychologists Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman found that participants who completed boring activities subsequently performed better on certain creative tasks. The researchers suggested that daydreaming could partly explain the relationship between boredom and creativity.

Ironically, this is where boredom becomes interesting. It gives us time to observe.

We notice things differently when we are not constantly being given something to look at. A delayed Metro can become an opportunity to notice the people around us. A walk without headphones can make us aware of the sounds of the street. Sitting in a café without immediately reaching for our phones can make us notice the conversations happening around us.

Our phones have trained us to expect constant novelty. The next image is one swipe away. The next song is one tap away. The next video begins before we have even decided whether we want it. Digital media can divide attention and encourage us to keep searching for something more stimulating rather than remaining with what is already in front of us. Tam and Inzlicht’s broader 2024 review argues that digital media may contribute to boredom through divided attention, heightened expectations for stimulation and ineffective attempts to cope with boredom.

We often speak about the need to “pay attention” to art as though attention were simply a switch we could turn on. But attention is also a habit. The ability to notice a small detail in a painting, sit through a long scene or listen to someone without checking a notification depends, in part, on our willingness to stay when there is no immediate reward. A painting does not change every few seconds. A poem may require more than one reading. A slow film may ask us to wait before it gives us anything. A theatre performance demands that we sit in one place and remain present. Even a museum asks something increasingly difficult of us– to stand still and look.

The answer is not to romanticise boredom or declare phones the enemy or move away to the mountains and adopt the life of a monk. Digital entertainment can give us pleasure, connection and rest. The problem is the assumption that every empty moment needs to be filled.

Because some things can only be noticed when we stop looking for the next thing. Boredom is not the absence of attention.Maybe it is where attention begins.

And the next time the Metro is five minutes late, perhaps we could let those five minutes remain empty.

Not because there is nothing to do, but because there might finally be something to see.

Image Credits: Antonio Sortino & Alice Lagarde

 

Aarushi Chaubey

[email protected]

 

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