New delhi: To wake the authorities up about the digital gap that led to the death by suicide of a bright second year student at Lady Sri Ram of College for Women (LSR), the students have boycotted classes and are holding GB Meetings to come up with a concrete plan.
"Each course is holding a GB Meeting, while we are boycotting the online classes till the administration does not adhere to our demands," Unnimaya, LSR Students Union president told Millennium Post.
Aishwerya Reddy, 19-year-old student from Telengana died by suicide due to financial burden due lockdown and the pandemic. The state topper was also asked to vacate the hostel, as per the policy of the university, where students have to vacate after finishing first year. The students have demanded to remove the policy in their list of demands.
According to the information available on the college website, admission into the Residence Hall is conducted purely on the basis of merit, along with government instructed reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Persons with Disabilities. Students with Delhi/NCR as their domicile cannot get admission into the LSR Residence Hall.
Meanwhile, students from LSR and St. Stephens have started raising funds for those who are having financial difficulties after Reddy's suicide "shocked" them.
The fundraising initiative was launched with students creating online platforms through which people can donate funds that will be distributed to those in need at both colleges. These platforms are being solely managed by the students concerned, with no links to college administrations.
Besides raising funds, the Stephen's and LSR students have also been collecting electronic devices and data packs as part of the aid since classes have moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are a group of students from LSR college and we are fundraising for students in need for financial assistance so that they can attend online classes. We believe everyone deserves an education and nobody deserves to die. This fund will help allow undergraduate students and the money collected will be divided equally amongst those who need data packs and other means to access the internet," the students said.