No room for more students in his hostels, IIT Delhi considers approaching space aggregators

One of the country’s topmost engineering institutes, IIT-Delhi is now considering engaging space aggregators to rent rooms in the neighbourhood for providing accommodation to at least 600 students.

The institution which had already been facing a shortage of 400 hostel seats is faced with an unprecedented rise in the number of students on its rolls for a variety of reasons such as a supernumerary quota for girls, focus on getting foreign pupils and the EWS quota.

According to a senior official, the institution has been facing a space crunch for the past few years and hostel rooms meant for a single student are, in many cases, being shared by two students while rooms for two are often allotted to three residents.

“The number of students has increased. First a supernumerary quota for girls was announced to ensure their number reaches 20%. Currently, the number of girls is at 17%. Then 10% quota for economically weaker sections was announced. This would mean that seats would go up by as much as 25%. Most of the IIT students need hostel, but the space is not sufficient,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

He said the number of students in undergraduate courses was 850 last year. It will be 1,050 students after the EWS quota is implemented. Similarly, the number of post graduate and PhD students would go up from 3,000 by 700-800.

“We are already short of around 400 hostel seats. With new seats the minimum shortage would be around 800 seats,” the official said.

Prof V Ramgopal Rao, IIT-Delhi director, said a committee has been formed under deputy director (strategy and planning) M Balakrishnan to find a solution to the problem.

The official said engaging space aggregators is one of the proposals under consideration. Entities such as Oyo, Airbnb, etc which tie up with property owners and then market rooms on rent are referred to as space aggregators.

“IIT Delhi is an Institute of Eminence aiming to rise further in global rankings. The quality of students is an important aspect. However, students who do not get accommodation may shift to another institute,” the official quoted above said.

Among the older IITs, IIT Delhi has the smallest campus at 320 acres, much smaller than others like IIT Kharagpur which is spread over 1200 acres. The institution also cannot add space vertically since it is situated close to the airport.

“The institute is not very far from the airport. So the aviation norms apply and our hostel buildings cannot be higher than seven to eight storeys,” the official said.

First Published: Jul 17, 2019 23:55 IST