Patna, September 7 (Daily Kiran) : Following the tragic building collapse in Satya Niketan near Delhi University’s South Campus, Rajya Sabha member and professor Manoj Kumar Jha has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for immediate intervention. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Jha requested urgent financial allocations for the construction of public hostels for university students.
On September 6, a private paying guest accommodation in Satya Niketan collapsed, resulting in the deaths of at least six young individuals and injuring several others. Jha emphasized that this incident has plunged families across the country into crisis, particularly those sending their children to Delhi for higher education.
He pointed out that the multi-story building where the students resided raised concerns over structural deficiencies, water accumulation, and ongoing construction or repair work. Jha demanded a thorough investigation into the incident, highlighting the broader institutional failures that forced students to live in such precarious conditions. He noted that while the collapsed building was not an official hostel of Delhi University, the responsibility of the university and the government remains significant.
Jha lamented that the university can only provide hostel accommodations for a small fraction of its students, leaving thousands reliant on irregular and expensive housing in nearby areas. He urged the Prime Minister to announce emergency funding for the construction of public hostels for Delhi University students. This initiative should be part of a time-bound student housing program across both the North and South Campuses, as well as affiliated colleges.
He stressed the need for the central government, the university, and its agencies to identify available public land for hostel construction. The timeline for this process should be clear, with progress reports made public. Furthermore, he called for special provisions for women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minority communities, disabled students, and those from economically weaker and remote areas.
Linking the Satya Niketan tragedy to the overall state of civic and public infrastructure in Delhi and across the country, Jha expressed concern over incidents of road collapses, falling bridges, and dilapidated buildings. He accused such occurrences of reflecting corruption, collusion, negligent inspections, and a lack of public accountability.
Jha stated that as India celebrates the expansion of higher education, it cannot leave students arriving in the city in unsafe conditions. He urged the Prime Minister to consider the Satya Niketan incident as a national warning and to act swiftly.
He concluded that the most appropriate response to this tragedy would be a public commitment to ensure that no student coming to Delhi for education is forced to live in unsafe or illegally modified buildings due to a lack of university hostel accommodations.
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