Safety first for parents looking for PGs

New Delhi: With all

colleges

closed on Sunday and admission formalities either pending or fulfilled, parents set out on a

PG

hunt around the north and south campuses.

On Saturday, when the aspirants went to colleges along with their parents for

admissions

, they came across several PG owners standing outside with visiting cards and pamphlets about various options available around the premises. Like every other year, parents, however, relied more on seniors to get vital information on safety, owners, facilities and costs and made a shortlist of options after the first visit.

“With some horrible PG experiences shared by students on social media and among peer groups, we don’t know whom to believe when it comes to choosing a PG. The options with good arrangements are overpriced and those which are reasonable have drawbacks like lack of cleanliness, overcrowding or unsafe locations. Some are not even inside a residential colony,” said Kamlesh Dhawan, a resident of Mohali who was looking for a PG accommodation for his daughter at Kamala Nagar.

Some parents went the extra mile and visited the shortlisted PGs two-three times. “Each day we learn about crime against women in the city so I wanted to pick a residential society that has provisions for security. I don’t mind paying more for that,” said Rajesh Tomar, who came from Bhopal.

Rita Yadav and her daughter came across a PG owner who offered a room at Mukherjee Nagar in the North

Campus

area on a twin-share basis for an all-inclusive Rs 10,000. However, on reaching the area, Yadav was appalled to discover that the room was on the fifth floor in the middle of a cramped lane and lacked almost all amenities. “I can’t imagine how people continue to get customers and run these PGs which smell filthy and are completely unkempt. It is evident that the better ones are high priced that is why students are left with no choice and they have to settle here,” said Yadav.

The student unions at Delhi University have protested against exorbitant price tags set by PG accommodations.

But PG owners claim that the high rates are due to the increasing demand and services like maids and food.

“We own a two-storey house that consists of nine rooms, out of which five have been given to girls on a twin-share basis. We have kept two housekeepers and a full-time maid as well as a cook. Despite giving all these facilities, we charge a nominal fee of Rs 12,500, which most of the PGs here charge,” said Parul Raj, a PG owner at Kamala Nagar.

A few students from the Northeast were seen helping aspirants from the region. North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) also volunteered to help freshers look for safe accommodations and mentor them if they are facing language barriers.


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