Pest control at Delhi University

Hostels have been asked to identify illegal occupants and throw them out in time for Commonwealth Games

Hostels have been asked to identifyu00a0 illegal occupants and throw them out in time for Commonwealth Games

The Delhi University has decided to clean up the mess.
The central educational institution wants to throw out illegal hostel occupants before welcoming thousands of officials and athletes who would descend on the city for the Commonwealth Games in October.
The 'veterans' of the varsity are as old as the institution itself and have survived many regimes. They are known for setting up the agenda for varsity politics.


Students at one of the rooms in Mansarovar hostel PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN

But the murder of a blind student at the hostel of Hansraj College has shaken the system out of the time-induced stupor. It is action time for the authorities.
The University administration has sent a notice to hostel heads, asking them to first identify all those who are residing in the hostels despite graduating a long time back and then initiate action against them.

University Proctor Gurmeet Singh said: "There are hundreds of students who have been staying in hostels for years. They don't leave even after completing their education. Moreover, they treat it as some family accommodation and invite friends and family to stay over."

"Strict action has been lined up for all the defaulters. It will not just help us to accommodate the Commonwealth Games officials and athletes but also the new students, as the admission process is going to start soon," Singh said.

Expelled
Recently, four students from Jubilee hall - considered among the most prestigious hostels - were rusticated from the hostel in a similar exercise. Jubilee Hall is the largest of the men's hostels in the University. It houses full-time PG and research students.

Dr DS Rawat, warden of Jubilee Hostel, said: "The students should have left the hostel around two years back but they were still there. On Thursday, we sealed their rooms. Action against all such students will continue."
According to the hostel rules, if a student doesn't complete his degree in the stipulated time, he will have to leave the room as he is no more considered a student of the University.

The Drill

In a mess

Jubilee Hall: It has 196 rooms and is one of the two hostels in University of Delhi offering single room accommodation to its residents. Gwyer Hall is for boys only and there are 100 rooms available. It is equipped with a modern kitchen, gymnasium and has two lawns. Established in 1993, Mansarover Hostel has 108 rooms for research students. D.S. Kothari Hostel is for boys only and there are 89 rooms available.

Once all university hostels come up with the list of defaulters, the varsity authorities will run a campaign to identify and throw such students out. A university official said, "Not all the hostels are filled with illegal occupants. Gwyer Hall, Jubilee Hall, Mansarovar Hostel, PG Men's Hostel, D S Kothari Hostel, V K R V Rao Hostel and Meghdoot Hostel are the worst affected. Basically, the students use their clout to stay on."

Praveen Saxena (name changed), a resident of Mansarovar hostel, said, "Many students have made the hostel rooms their permanent residence. They are not ready to vacate the rooms and I don't know why the authorities have not been taking any action against them till now."u00a0

Apart from the Delhi University hostels, visitors to the Commonwealth Games will be accommodated at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Milla Islamia (JMI). Of the 3,250 rooms identified by the panel, around 2,100 are in boys' hostels and the remaining rooms are in girls' hostels.

14 Number of hostels in Delhi University
3,000 Estimated number of hostellers in Delhi University