‘Why are students forced to live in unsafe PGs?’ Rahul Gandhi after Satya Niketan tragedy | India News
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha LoP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday questioned the system over the Satya Niketan tragedy, asking who would take responsibility for the death of Arpit Jhaj and other students.In an X post, Gandhi said Arpit’s grieving family is seeking answers after his death, asking, “What was that innocent one’s fault?”Gandhi said Arpit’s family was forced to leave their son in an unsafe place because of the lack of adequate and safe hostels for students. He questioned whether the tragedy could have been avoided had safety standards been properly followed.“The system’s irresponsibility and corruption have snatched away many lives full of dreams and devastated many families filled with hope,” Gandhi said.He said Arpit’s family, as well as the country, is demanding accountability and responsibility for students’ safety to be fixed so that no parent has to endure such a loss again.Gandhi also questioned why new and safe hostels were not being built and why students were being forced to live in unsafe PG accommodations.He further sought an update on the investigation into the Satya Niketan incident, asking: “How far has the investigation into the Satya Niketan incident progressed?”What’s the Satya Niketan tragedy?The building at Satya Niketan, which housed a boys’ PG accommodation near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed on September 6.The incident claimed lives of seven students. The tragedy renewed questions over the safety of private PGs and hostels, particularly those operating from old residential buildings.The Delhi High Court has also expressed concern over the safety of students living in PGs and private hostels and questioned the regulatory framework governing such establishments and ordered a high-level MCD inquiry.
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It said the collapse of a multi-storey hostel building in Satya Niketan, which killed seven people including students, was “not an ordinary incident.”“Four students lost their lives in the mishap…very tragic. It’s not an ordinary incident of any mishap. These four students had come to the capital with a lot of hopes and dreams, coming from small towns. All of that was shattered by such callous and criminal conduct on the part of (certain persons),” the court said.