New Delhi, 07 September (H.S.):

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has demanded action against those responsible for the Satya Niketan incident and called for the resignation of the Municipal Commissioner.

ABVP National General Secretary Dr. Virendra Singh Solanki, addressing a press conference at the ITO office on Monday, described the accident involving a PG accommodation building in Satya Niketan as heart-wrenching. Expressing grief over the deaths of students in the incident, he prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.

He said the incident has exposed a serious failure in the safety arrangements for student accommodations in Delhi as well as in administrative oversight. He said that immediately after the incident, ABVP activists reached the site and assisted the administration and other agencies in relief and rescue operations.

Dr. Virendra Singh Solanki said that after receiving information about the incident, ABVP activists staged a protest outside the MCD office, demanding that administrative accountability be fixed, the Municipal Commissioner resign, and FIRs be registered under relevant criminal provisions against all those involved in the case, followed by stringent action. He said that the police resorted to a lathi-charge, in which several ABVP activists, including DUSU President Aryan Maan, were injured, while more than 50 activists were detained.

The ABVP demanded a high-level and impartial inquiry into the incident to ensure complete accountability. It called for an investigation into the construction work carried out by the landlord, builder and contractor, as well as clarification regarding who had granted permission to excavate a basement beneath the existing building, on what basis permission had been granted to operate the PG accommodation, and why the concerned MCD officials failed to take timely action. He said that the ABVP had previously raised, through memoranda submitted to the concerned authorities, the issue of safety arrangements and violations of rules at illegally operated student accommodations and PG facilities in Delhi.

He demanded that the government immediately provide affected students with safe accommodation, ensure adequate treatment and assistance for the injured, and provide appropriate compensation to the families of the deceased students. Concrete steps should also be taken to increase the availability of adequate and safe hostels at educational institutions in Delhi, he said.

Virendra Singh Solanki said that the agitation demanding administrative accountability in South Campus is continuing and will remain ongoing until appropriate action is taken.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar