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.
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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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