Patna: Following the collapse of a private paying-guest accommodation in Delhi’s Satya Niketan area, RJD Rajya Sabha MP and Delhi University professor Manoj Jha has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Union government to take the highest-level action against those responsible for the tragedy.
In his letter, Jha expressed “profound anguish” over the September 6 collapse of the multi-storeyed building located near Delhi University’s South Campus.
He said at least seven young people had lost their lives and several others were injured, leaving families across the country devastated.
Jha called for an impartial investigation into the incident and raised questions over reports of structural violations, accumulated water and construction or repair work in the ageing building.
While acknowledging that the collapsed structure was not an official Delhi University hostel, Jha argued that the incident exposed a larger institutional failure arising from the severe shortage of student accommodation.
According to Jha, Delhi University is able to provide accommodation to only a small proportion of its students, forcing thousands of students to depend on an unregulated rental market around university campuses and colleges.
He said students often pay high rents for cramped accommodation without being in a position to verify the structural safety, fire preparedness, sanitation, or legal status of the buildings.
The RJD MP also highlighted the financial sacrifices made by families to educate their children.
He said many students are the first members of their families to attend university, with parents using savings, taking loans or even selling assets in the hope of securing a better future for their children.
Jha urged the Union government to announce an emergency, ring-fenced financial allocation for the construction of public hostels for Delhi University students.
He called for a time-bound student-housing programme covering both North and South Campuses as well as the university’s colleges located across Delhi.
Jha further proposed that public land available with the Union government, Delhi University and its agencies be identified for hostel construction, with transparent deadlines and publicly accessible progress reports.
The letter also called for dedicated hostel provisions for women, SC, ST and OBC students, minority communities, persons with disabilities, economically vulnerable students and those coming from distant regions.
Jha said the Satya Niketan incident should not be treated as an isolated accident, but as part of a wider problem involving civic and public infrastructure.
He pointed to recurring incidents involving collapsing buildings and bridges, failing drains, deteriorating public institutions and the proliferation of unauthorised structures.
The RJD leader alleged that the repeated occurrence of such incidents raises concerns about corruption, collusion, negligent inspections and weakening public accountability, and called for stronger regulatory oversight.
“India cannot celebrate the expansion of higher education while abandoning students once they reach the cities in which its universities are located,” Jha said, urging the Prime Minister to treat the Satya Niketan collapse as a national warning.
He said the most appropriate response to the young lives lost would be a binding public commitment that no student coming to Delhi for education should again be forced, because of a shortage of university accommodation, to live in an unsafe or illegally altered building.
(IANS)
