NHRC seeks Delhi, UGC plan to expand DU hostels by October 15

The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Delhi government and the University Grants Commission to submit a plan to increase University of Delhi hostel accommodation by October 15.

The commission began proceedings in 2025 after a complaint by the Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation. The organisation said DU has around 72,000 undergraduate students and that hostel availability is inadequate. It said students from outside Delhi often face added costs for paying-guest rooms and rented premises.

DU told the commission that its undergraduate programmes run through 65 constituent and affiliated colleges and acknowledged the need for additional hostel infrastructure. The NHRC said the university's response did not set out existing hostel capacity, the scale of the shortfall, required new capacity, funding responsibility or an implementation timeline.

The Delhi chief secretary and the UGC chairman must coordinate with DU on a consolidated action plan. It must assess requirements at each college and examine renovation, upgradation and expansion of existing hostels, alongside the feasibility of new facilities.