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The recent tragic building accident in Satya Niketan, a busy and student-dominated area of Delhi, has once again raised serious questions on the living arrangements and safety standards of students in the country’s capital. After this tragic incident, popular actor and social worker Sonu Sood, who has made a special name for himself in the world for social service, has given a very sensitive and eye-opening advice to the government and administration. Sonu Sood, through his official statements and social media, has expressed deep sorrow over the fact that in a big education hub like Delhi, lakhs of students coming from all over the country are forced to live in small and unsafe rooms, risking their lives due to lack of affordable and safe accommodation. Citing figures, he said that while the number of students studying in Delhi is more than seven lakh, the total number of seats in government hostels is limited to only around thirty thousand. Due to this huge gap and administrative negligence, students have to become victims of such terrible accidents every day, on which the governments now need to consider seriously.
The horror of Satya Niketan building accident and the unsafe life of students
Areas like Satya Niketan, located around the North and South campuses of Delhi University, are considered to be the main centers for thousands of students to find accommodation during their studies, but the PGs and hostels built here often prove to be complete failures on all security parameters. The recent building accident that took place in Satya Niketan area shook the souls of the students living there and their parents, because a little carelessness could have taken away many innocent lives. There is a severe lack of ventilation, fire safety and strong structure in these PGs and rooms which are being run in multi-storey buildings by ignoring the rules. Whenever such accidents happen, the administrative staff comes into action for a few days, orders for investigation are given and then everything becomes normal as before, but this time with the emergence of a personality like Sonu Sood, this serious issue has taken the form of a national level debate, due to which the pressure on the administration is bound to increase.
Advice given by Sonu Sood to the government: Along with education, housing is also a basic right.
Sonu Sood, who always comes forward as a messiah in times of trouble, has this time reminded the governments and policy makers in strong words that the future of the country i.e. teaching the youth and giving wings to their dreams will be meaningful only when they can live in a safe environment. Sonu Sood in his advice has clearly said that the state and central governments should together build low-cost modern government hostels and student housing projects on a large scale for the students in Delhi and other big metro cities. Unless the governments themselves come forward and make arrangements for safe and cheap hostels, the private mafia will continue to take advantage of the helplessness of the students and force them to live in dangerous and expensive rooms. His suggestion is not only important from a humanitarian point of view, but it also offers an excellent blueprint for the country’s urban planning and student welfare policies.
7 lakh students vs 30 thousand seats: This bitter truth of housing crisis is no less than a big danger.
Students from every corner of the country come to metros like Delhi with the dream of becoming doctors, engineers, civil servants and scientists, but after reaching here, the biggest challenge they face is to find a safe roof to hide their heads. According to government figures and reports, the total number of students studying in various universities and institutions of Delhi is more than seven lakh, whereas in comparison, the total number of seats in government and recognized university hostels hardly reaches thirty thousand. This huge difference clearly means that more than 95 percent of the students are forced to live on rent in private PGs, flats or dilapidated, low, unsafe buildings. This housing crisis is like a big hidden danger, where every day thousands of youth are risking their lives and struggling to complete their studies.
Learning from this tragedy requires administrative reforms and concrete strategies for the future.
After the Satya Niketan accident, now the time has come that the Municipal Corporation (MCD), Delhi Government and the Education Ministry should together prepare a common action plan so that this kind of playing with the lives of students can be stopped forever. There should be strict surprise checks of illegally running PGs and hostels and criminal cases should be registered without any leniency against those violating safety standards. Along with this, construction of multi-storey student hostels with low rents on government lands should be started on war footing so that poor and middle class families can also educate their children in a safe environment. If this warning and advice of Sonu Sood is accepted in time, then in the coming days no parent will have to face such scary news regarding the safety of their child, and the youth of the country will be able to move towards their destination without any fear.