DU approves Rs 5,889 crore hostel expansion plan for 21,895 students

Delhi University's Executive Council has approved a Rs 5,889 crore plan to build new hostels for 21,895 students, a big step for a university that has long had far fewer hostel seats than students who need them.

The proposals came before the council at its meeting on October 13. The university had proposed two Y-shaped hostels at the Dhaka Complex, one for girls and one for boys, each housing 4,836 students and costing an estimated Rs 1,130 crore.

An undergraduate hostel made up of E, F and G blocks at the same complex would house 3,162 students at an estimated Rs 678 crore. Hostels were also planned for the Najafgarh and East campuses, the latter at Surajmal Vihar in Karkardooma.

The university hopes to fund the projects through grants from the Ministry of Education. For a working women's hostel, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has committed Rs 200 crore.

A long-standing shortage

The shortage is acute. For nearly a century, DU had only 3,422 hostel seats at the university level. A complaint before the National Human Rights Commission noted that the university has around 72,000 undergraduate students.

Many students from outside Delhi end up in private paying-guest accommodation. Students have said they pay roughly Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,800 a month for a PG.

Safety concerns

The issue gained urgency after the September 6 collapse of a five-storey building used as a private boys' hostel in Satya Niketan, near the South Campus.

The collapse killed seven people. Students afterwards demanded safety audits of PGs and university-regulated hostels near South Campus.

Days later, the university announced that the combined hostel capacity of the university and its colleges would rise to 12,754 seats.

Pressure from the NHRC

The NHRC has also directed the Delhi government and the UGC to work with DU on a time-bound plan to address the shortage of affordable hostel accommodation.

The approval is only the first stage. Funding, land clearances and construction timelines will decide how soon students actually move in.