Newly elected Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) office-bearers affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Monday visited Satya Niketan, where a building collapse earlier this month claimed several lives, and pledged to take up issues concerning student accommodation and safety.
The DUSU president, secretary and joint secretary visited “Satya Square” around 4.30 pm and paid homage to those who died in the September 6 collapse. The visit came two days after results of the DUSU elections were declared.
According to an ABVP statement, the newly elected representatives assured students that the union would work through the year on concerns related to accommodation, rents, basic amenities and safety in Satya Niketan and adjoining areas.
‘Beginning of accountability’
The visit followed the ABVP’s victory in three of the four central panel posts in the DUSU elections. The RSS-affiliated student organisation won the posts of president, secretary and joint secretary.
ABVP’s Yash Dabas won the presidential contest after securing 24,576 votes, defeating NSUI candidate Vijay Shankar Meena by a margin of 2,053 votes. The organisation also retained the secretary and joint secretary posts it had won in 2025.
ABVP Delhi State Secretary Sarthak Sharma said the election result marked the beginning of the elected representatives’ accountability towards students.
“Satya Niketan is the heartbeat of South Campus students, yet they constantly grapple with issues regarding accommodation and basic amenities,” Sharma said.
He said the organisation would take students’ concerns to both the university administration and the government.
Housing issues in focus
Dabas said the visit was “not merely a formality” and that the students’ union would work on issues such as arbitrary rents, inadequate amenities and security.
According to the ABVP statement, he also said DUSU would push for measures towards regulating room rents, strengthening security and protecting students’ legal rights.
The representatives sought concrete steps to prevent incidents similar to the Satya Niketan collapse and called for accountability from the authorities.
Private accommodation in Satya Niketan and other neighbourhoods around Delhi University’s South Campus is widely used by students who are unable to secure university hostel accommodation.
Collapse raised safety concerns
The September 6 building collapse brought the safety of such private accommodation into focus, with questions being raised over structural safety and regulatory oversight of buildings being used to house students.
The incident also prompted demands for greater availability of affordable and safe student accommodation around the university.
The newly elected DUSU representatives said they would continue raising these concerns during their tenure and work with the university administration and government authorities to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.