Students’ movement against the high rents in Delhi University has taken a new turn as tenants have decided to initiate ‘civil disobedience movement,’ demanding implementation of room rent control law for affordable accommodation in areas near the campus as there is shortage of hostel facilities in colleges.
Students from areas like Christian Colony, Mukherjee Nagar and neighbouring areas, along with their supporters, have decided to stop paying rent as they feel the rates are skyrocketing. Additionally, they have also demanded implementation of the Delhi Room Rent Control Act, 1995 to check the hike.
Convener of the protesting group, Parveen Singh, said, “If the Act is not implemented, we have decided to boycott paying the rent. Gandhi used the Non-Cooperation Movement to free our country from the British rule. We will follow the path of the Father of Nation. What we want is the implementation of the Act. We do not want anything new. All we demand is the implementation and enforcement of the law that has already been made.”
The Right to Accommodation issue has also seen a hunger strike being staged since October 31. Singh is one of them with six others on strike in front of Maurice Nagar police station. Two of the group, Mohammed Adil and Manish Bhartiya were shifted to a hospital after they fainted on the fifth day of their protest.
The problem lies in the fact that many students come from distant parts of the country to study in DU and their earnings do not match the rising incomes of people in Delhi. “The Delhi Rent Control Act states that the tariffs could be checked,” said Singh. The group maintained that whatever the court decides as maximum rent, they would accept that.
The group has organised debates, carried out processions, candle marches around the north campus of the university and nearby neighbourhoods to raise awareness and garner more support for their ‘civil disobedience movement’.
Claiming that they were not given rent receipts or agreements, Singh also criticised the income tax department for “sleeping” over the issue. “We are not given any receipt. There is no rent agreement, there is no receipt for the rent and all the people who live here do not pay any income tax for this... Don’t know where the income tax authority is sleeping. This is something worth notice,” he said.