With only 16 colleges in Delhi University (DU) offering hostel accommodation and over one lakh candidates applying to the university from outside the National Capital Region, a question on every outstation student’s mind is what kind of accommodation they will find for the next three to four years.
This year, due to the shift in dates for the first cut-off list, many students had to change their travel plans at the last minute.
They also had to prolong their stay as they were unable to complete their application on June 24, the first day of admissions, due to DU’s online portal suffering technical glitches.
Rising expense
Rajan, who had to reschedule his flight tickets from Visakhapatnam when the university changed the date of announcement for the first cut-off list, said: “I don’t have a place to stay in Delhi, so I have to stay in a hotel. First, I lost money rescheduling my tickets and now I have to spend on a hotel as I could not complete my registration on Saturday.”
Several brokers have started approaching students to help them find accommodation.
For rent
Ramesh Yadav, a broker in Satya Niketan, said if students want to stay near campus they have to be prepared to spend anything between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 per month.
Cheaper accommodation is available if they do not mind taking a bus to college every day, said Mr. Yadav, adding that several colleges are connected by the metro, but not South Campus.
Students studying in Jesus and Mary College and Maitreyi College on South Campus said the closest metro station is Race Course and shared auto-rickshaws from the station to the college charge ₹20. They say this works out cheaper than staying at Satya Niketan or any other colony in the vicinity.
Not concerned
Students have made several proposals to DU and the Delhi government to provide a house rent allowance or come up with rent control system so that they can find affordable housing, but the requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
