With the first cutoff list of Delhi University’s undergraduate (UG) programme expected on June 25 and admissions soon to start, the hostel and PG hunt by the outstation DU freshers is also set to begin. However, it won’t turn out to be a cakewalk to find a good place to live in, warn seniors. Some DU seniors, having slummed it in sub-standard digs, offer valuable piece of advice to fresh-faced youngsters, many moving out of the family home and away from the shackles of mum and dad to set-off out into the big, bad world, finding their own paths in life, opening their minds, and discovering their true identities.
Ritu, a second-year Economics student at Hansraj College feels that it may not be a joyride to live in a PG, and that life in a PG is not as fascinating as it seems from outside. She says, “It may be easy to find a place to live in, but it is very difficult to find a good place. We face day-to-day problems in the PG such as tasteless food, dirty washrooms and poor WiFi connectivity. It takes a week’s time to get faulty appliances repaired.”
It seems as if providing accommodation at high rates to students is a business for the PG owners. They generally don’t stick to the lofty claims they make in the beginning. However, many believe that a student new to Delhi need not worry about finding a decent place to stay as one can see pamphlets for PGs being distributed outside colleges. Of course, parents of outstation students, especially girls, are concerned about accommodation for their wards because of the limited number of seats in the college hostels apart from getting them in prestigious colleges. But there are numerous paying guest accommodations in and around the campus at price range between Rs8,000 to Rs20,000 per person. Many of these PGs provide facilities such as WiFi, food and laundry.
Students in North campus can look for PGs in Kamla Nagar, Hudson lane and Mukherjee Nagar. Good options for students in South campus are Satya Niketan, lajpat Nagar and South Extension. Although Delhi is known for being unsafe for girls, security in the PGs is taken care of by the security guards and the police patrolling in the city. Rashi, first-year student at Miranda House says, “The North campus is very safe for girls during the day and there are no cases of eve-teasing. The ridge area can be somewhat unsafe and it’s best not to venture out alone.”
Girls feel safe enough to walk freely in the campus but not after 9 pm because boys tend to hang around passing lewd remarks. As compared to the previous years, the safety of girls around the campus has become a major concern and stringent action has been taken by the authorities to improve the situation. Despite the issues faced by the outstation students, Delhi University remains one of the favorite places to study as thousands of applications from all over the country pour in every year.