NEW DELHI: The residents of the women's hostels of Delhi University have been sitting on a sit-in protest against the curfew timings and alleged discrimination at their hostels for the past 16 days. The students have said that there has been no formal communication from the administration about the situation.
Speaking to Millennium Post, resident of North East Hotel Pallavi Ghosh said that according to the Delhi University's UGC guidelines of 2015, there is a no-discrimination policy on the basis of gender. "We have about 20 demands that we want the administration to fulfill. Since February 27, we have been sitting in protest. It started with curfew timings, which was 7 p.m. initially," she said.
Students of five hostels, including North East, Ambedkar, UG Hostels for Girls and Rajiv Gandhi, has been on an indefinite sit-in in front of the main gate of the complex.
However, the students' main demand in relaxation of the curfew imposed was taken by up the admin. "They have changed the curfew timing to 10 p.m. now but we want all other demands to be fulfilled as well. These are basic demands, however, the administration has not paid heed to it," added Ghosh.
She said that hostel provosts have been taking meetings but no concrete decision has been taken as of now. The other demands of the students include removal of the interview system. "After every year, students have to again fill forms and give the interview for hostels, this creates a lot of problems," added the Post Graduate DU student.
The protests initially started as a response to comments a hostel official allegedly made about students preparing for a "hostel night". They allegedly said the students' dresses were "very revealing" and that "a woman's body should be a mystery". The students have said that they will continue to protest until all their demands are met.