The controversies surrounding the much talked about University in Delhi doesn't seem to end for one reason or the other. Recent reports suggest that in between the lockdown that India is facing, students who stayed back in the hostels of the University when the lockdown came into effect in our country have now been allegedly forced to vacate the hostels by the administration. Moreover, the administration has also asked them to sign an undertaking which says that they are doing this according to their own free will.

With the first lockdown in the country, many students had already left for their hometowns while many others stayed back. The form which the authorities want them to sign reads, “I declare that the decision to travel my hometown has been taken by me at my own responsibility and as per MHA (Ministry of Home Affair) guidelines.”

On the other hand, the MHA guidelines talk about allowing stranded students to move with conditions. In fact, in March, The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had stated that students who remained at their hostels after the lockdown "should be allowed to continue in their hostels." 

However, on Friday, A P Siddiqui, Registrar of the University, issued an order which stated, “The students stranded in the hostels who could not go back to their homes earlier and stayed back are hereby directed to vacate the hostels as per the arrangements of transportation and travel protocols of the state governments. The areas in proximity of the University are being declared as hotspots, and no movement is allowed in the designated areas. It is difficult for the University to maintain logistics and manpower requirements in future.”

Talking further about the same, Siddiqui said that the hostels are also required for contingent quarantine facilities, sanitisation & maintenance & hence becomes important to vacate them completely. Also, he said that both the boys & girls hostels are requested to commence the process required urgently.

However, residents from the hostel have refused to sign the form & leave for their homes. A student even said that they refused to sign the undertaking because they have been forced to do that. In contrast, an official from the University said that the guidelines of the MHRD are old & that the situation has also changed. The University has been closed for all purposes as the neighbourhood is also surrounded by containment zones & hotspots from where substantial workforce comes, so it would also get difficult to sustain logistics for the University.

He also questioned the students who refused to leave to go back to their homes & asked what they would do for 2-3 months as everything would be available to them online.