After the fight of clearing the entrance examination of various colleges and universities, competition is now on for getting accommodation in the university hostels. limited seats in the hostels is creating a sense of confusion among students about whether to queue up in the long waiting list of applicants or look for outside avenues to stay in the city.
Paying guest (PG) accommodation and low-cost rented flats are options that the students find easier to handle than to queue up in the long waiting list of hostels. However, the situation is worse for girl students as paying guest accommodations and private hostels are already packed to capacity. When the girls search for rented flats, they are often not preferred by the landlords or house owners due to security concerns.
With most Delhi University colleges having limited number of hostel seats for undergraduate students, the demand for paying guest accommodations and private hostels goes up. Most students will end up spending more on accommodation with PG facility providers hiking their rents substantially.
With unavailability of hostel accommodation, girls are often left scampering for a roof over their head in conditions, which are often exploitative. Cramped in cubby holes obtained through brokers at exorbitant rates, the girls are often fleeced by real estate agents and landlords, many times being vulnerable to harassment and rising crime. It should also be mandatory for homeowners, who rent rooms to students, to register with a body at the university or with various colleges, to enable some sort of check to ensure the well-being of the students. local authorities have issued special norms regarding security of girls in PGs. “Proper registers are maintained by every PG, which is checked by the local police. They are very strict regarding their rules. Girls who cock a snook at rules are even checked out of the PG,” said a local officer at Kamla Nagar.
While efforts to increase capacity of existing hostels have been made, this has hardly solved the problem because colleges receive seven to eight times more applicants now. College principals admit that the demand for hostels is at least five to six times more than the availability, leaving unaccommodated girls in a quandary.
Rashika Sharma, a student from Tamil Nadu, recently got admission in Indraprastha College for Women and is most likely to stay in a PG dig. “Hostels at IP College for Women and Miranda House are almost charging a lakh per annum,” said Rashika. The cheapest PG accommodation in the area charges Rs88,000 for 11 months. Kamla Nagar at North Campus is one of the most popular PG hubs. Many students live there as the place is close to their college and offers decent facilities. Nonetheless some PGs charge tenants through the roof. The PG lease here ranges from Rs8,000 to Rs20,000, which means the most expensive PG can set you back by Rs2,20,000.
Most PG accommodations provide all the basic facilities that one can dream of. Rooms are air-conditioned and there is always someone coming in to do the housekeeping and laundry. Additionally four meals are served through the day and some also serve non-vegetarian food. A few expensive PGs also provide air-conditioned cabs to colleges or the airport.
Chetna Kashyap, a parent from Rajasthan, said, “Hostels don’t have AC rooms. It is better to stay in a PG, which charges that much and gives me an AC room too.” But there are parents like Daya laxmi who feel it makes sense to stay in a college hostel even if it means paying through your nose. “Albeit priced high, hostels are safe havens,” laxmi says.
However, PGs are much cheaper in South Campus. Satya Niketan offers PGs that cost anywhere between Rs4,500 and Rs7,000. Students have the option to choose between an AC and non-AC room and are given tiffin as well. However, they have to pay for electricity, Internet and housekeeping. Nanakpura also offers reasonable rooms.