Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has directed universities, colleges and civic agencies to extend student safety measures beyond campus boundaries to the roads, bus stops, metro stations, auto and e-rickshaw stands, parks and paying guest accommodations used by students. The directions were issued during a meeting with university vice-chancellors and senior officials from the Delhi Police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Public Works Department, Delhi Development Authority, education and transport departments.
The meeting identified several problems affecting students, particularly women, while travelling to and from educational institutions. Universities reported dark and isolated stretches, faulty streetlights, non-functional CCTV cameras, traffic congestion, parking difficulties, shortage of security personnel and safety concerns around liquor shops. Open urinals, unregulated street vending, overgrown vegetation in DDA parks and vacant plots, and gaps around last-mile transport were also raised.
The Delhi Police has been instructed to increase foot, motorcycle and PCR patrolling around sensitive locations and ensure a visible presence of women police personnel. Deputy commissioners of police, assistant commissioners of police, station house officers and beat officers have been asked to maintain regular communication with college principals and hostel wardens. They have also been directed to respond promptly to complaints involving stalking, harassment and suspicious activity.
The PWD, DDA and MCD have been told to repair faulty streetlights immediately and illuminate all identified dark spots. Agencies have also been asked to install CCTV cameras on roads leading to colleges, remove encroachments and illegal occupations, and address safety risks near parks. Action has additionally been ordered against open urinals and uncontrolled roadside vending where these affect access routes and public spaces used by students.
The transport-related directions focus on the journey between transit nodes and campuses. The number and frequency of U-Special and Ladies Special buses are to be increased, while bus services from metro stations to colleges are to be strengthened during the morning peak between 8 am and 11 am and the evening period between 5 pm and 8 pm. The meeting also called for regulation of autos and battery-operated rickshaws and greater public awareness about Metro Sarthi, One Delhi and the Durga scheme.
Universities have been instructed to create action bodies comprising deans, teachers, students and hostel wardens to address complaints. Students are to be encouraged to submit complaints with photographs or videos, while institutions have been asked to regularly collect feedback from them. The proposed mechanism places colleges in a coordinating role alongside police and civic agencies rather than treating safety as a matter confined to campus security.
The plan also covers students living outside university hostels. Because hostel capacity is limited, universities have been asked to register paying guest accommodations and houses being used by students in surrounding areas and verify them in coordination with the Delhi Police. This would bring off-campus housing, which is often outside direct university control, into the proposed safety monitoring framework. The next stage will depend on the identification of locations by institutions and the implementation of the instructions by the police, transport authorities and civic agencies.
