Arya News - The move aims to provide safer and more regulated accommodation to students living in the capital.
NEW DELHI – The Delhi government will create fully equipped hostel facilities for 10,000 students, a move aimed at providing safer and more regulated accommodation to students living in the capital.
The announcement comes days after the collapse of a multi-storey building in Satya Niketan, which housed students in a paying guest (PG) facility and claimed seven lives, bringing renewed focus on the safety and living conditions in privately run student accommodations.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a post on X on Tuesday, said the government had already begun work towards providing hostel accommodation to students, with the facilities to be available to both boys and girls. “Initially, 10,000 students will be provided fully equipped hostel facilities by our government, and work towards this is already underway,” Gupta said.
“Every student who comes to Delhi carries a dream in their eyes, years of hard work behind them and the hopes of a family back home. Our endeavour is to give them a safe, supportive place to stay, so they can study with peace of mind and move closer to the future they came here to build,” she said.
In a video message posted on her X handle, Gupta said the expansion of Delhi as an education hub needed to be accompanied by adequate hostel infrastructure. “It is true that when we want to see Delhi as a bigger education hub, then along with colleges and universities, it is also important to meet the requirements of a hostel,” she said.
Pointing out that lakhs of students come to Delhi for higher education but face difficulties in securing hostel accommodation, the Chief Minister said the proposed government hostels would address both safety and affordability concerns. “The Delhi government has decided that the government will build a hostel for 10,000 children, where their safety, security and economic accommodation will be taken care of,” Gupta said.
She said the facilities would be open to students studying in universities and colleges and would cater to both male and female students. According to Gupta, the government has already held meetings with various departments that can undertake construction of the hostels, while locations have also been identified and work on drafting the required policies has begun.
Gupta said the objective was to ensure that students and their families did not have to worry about basic necessities while pursuing higher education in Delhi.
“I assure you that we will build such hostels where parents from all over the country, from different states, can leave their children here without any worries,” she said.
“And the children should not worry about what to eat, where to stay, but they can concentrate on their dreams,” the Chief Minister added.
The government is also examining the requirements of students and the facilities that should be made available in the hostels, she said. The announcement comes days after the collapse of a multi-storey PG-cum-hostel building in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University’s South Campus, in which seven people were killed and several others were rescued after an extended search and rescue operation.
The building, known as “Hostel Daze”, had a basement and five floors and housed students in multiple rooms. Rescue operations continued for more than 24 hours following the collapse. Twelve people were rescued and admitted to hospitals, while five remained under treatment, including three who were reported to be in critical condition.
The incident also triggered action against officials and those allegedly responsible for running and maintaining the premises. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi suspended five South Zone officials, while police arrested several persons in connection with the collapse. The Delhi High Court also ordered an inquiry and directed the MCD to undertake an audit of PGs and hostels in the city.
The government has subsequently indicated that a comprehensive policy for PG accommodations would be brought in, with measures relating to licensing, safety audits and regulation of such facilities.