The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken serious cognizance of the lack of adequate and affordable hostel facilities for students of the University of Delhi, particularly those coming from outside Delhi, after seven students were killed in a building collapse in south campus’s Satya Niketan.
The NHRC has directed the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, and the Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) to take necessary action to augment hostel accommodation.
The NHRC Bench headed by Priyank Kanoongo has now directed the Delhi government, and the UGC Chairman to coordinate with the University of Delhi and submit a comprehensive, specific and action-oriented report for increasing hostel accommodation.
However, the Commission
said the proposed plan should not be restricted merely to construction of new hostels, but also examine possibilities for upgradation, expansion, renovation and augmentation of existing hostel infrastructure, along with assessing the feasibility and requirement of new or additional hostel facilities.
The NHRC has sought the report within four weeks and fixed October 15, 2026 as the deadline.
Satya Niketan Building
A decades-old five-storey building, which housed a boys’ paying guest accommodation near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed around 1.30 pm on Sunday while repair work was underway. A total of 12 people were pulled out of the debris, of which seven were killed.
Multiple agencies, including Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, NDRF and Delhi Disaster Management Authority, have been carrying out rescue operations. The police have registered a case against the building owner and others, while a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered.
The owner, Hariram Gupta, was apprehended from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi area on Monday, police said.
