College students in Delhi reluctant to go home

While JNU had 64 active Covid-19 cases on campus till Friday, IIT-D recorded 30 cases in the past month.

With higher education institutes in Delhi advising hostel residents to return home, several students have expressed concerns over travelling to their hometowns, worried they may become carriers of the infection, as several states report sharp spikes in Covid-19 cases.

Last week, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi (IIT-D) advised students to return home in the wake of rising cases on campus.(Agency file photo)

Last week, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi (IIT-D) advised students to return home in the wake of rising cases on campus.

While JNU had 64 active cases on campus till Friday, IIT-D recorded 30 cases in the past month. Delhi University’s Gwyer Hostel — which accommodates masters and research scholars — also reported a few cases among students. DU’s examination branch has also been shut till Wednesday in the wake of rising cases.

Shivam Chaurasia, a PhD scholar at JNU’s School of Social Sciences and a resident of Sutlej hostel, said, “The administration had issued a similar advisory in March last year, after which several students returned home. But now there is a concern among them. They know that if they leave, it might take some time for them to return to campus, which will affect their work.”

On Sunday, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also wrote to the JNU administration on the matter. Chaurasia, who is also president of ABVP’s JNU unit, said they have asked for isolation and permanent testing centres on campus, along with thermal screening and provisions for sanitisation at entry points. “There is no temperature-check facility at the main gate or at the gates of the hostels, nor are there any sanitiser dispensers,” the group wrote in the letter.

Madhurima Kundu, a MPhil student and a resident of JNU’s Chandrabhaga hostel, said, “Some students have decided to go back, but a majority don’t want to, because they went back last year and got stuck at home. This circular does not specify how students are supposed to deal with online education in the absence of internet facilities, electricity, and privacy at their homes.”

“Every state is witnessing a surge in cases. This time, a lot of young people have tested positive for Covid-19 and have had to be hospitalised as well. It is not safe to travel in such a scenario because we also run the risk of infecting our families back home. Not many have the option to isolate in their homes,” said a third-year student at IIT-D who asked not to be named.

In Jamia Millia Islamia meanwhile, though hostels are yet to reopen after being shut last year, several students who returned to the Capital to access university resources are now in a fix.

“I rented a room so that I could access the university library, e-resources and laboratory facilities. But with the administration now advising students to remain in their homes, it may affect my research work. With the increase in cases, there is a fear that we may not be allowed to access labs completely,” said Khalid Imtiyaz, a PhD scholar at the university.