‘Nowhere to go… locked out’: Ashoka University students claim hostel access barred during winter break

The student was later told she could stay at an off-campus housing facility typically used by PhD scholars and teaching fellows but only if she made additional payment. Only after intervention from the Student Government, the student body of the varsity, she claimed, was the payment waived for the night. “There were no bedsheets and no heaters there… I couldn’t go anywhere else,” she said.

This was not an isolated incident, students claimed. An undergraduate student from Karnataka also told The Indian Express that he found himself locked out of campus close to midnight in a similar manner after receiving an email barring him from staying on campus during the winter break on a very short notice.

For years, according to the students, they have been allowed to remain in their hostels at Ashoka University during such vacations.  Many students, especially those from outside North India, or abroad,  routinely stayed back, as their hostel fees covered residence through December.

But this time, it was different. Members of the Student Government said that students were informed of a new ‘Residence Life’ policy, requiring them to vacate campus during the winter break unless they received special approval through an appeal process. Several students say the communication that followed was delayed, ambiguous, or entirely absent.

In a statement, the varsity said, “During the winter break, students who are required to be on campus for pre scheduled official assignments, with advance information to the university and all international students are permitted to be on campus.  Due to security and logistical concerns, access to university premises remains restricted during this period to those with prior approval, as per university regulations.”

“Any student requiring access under circumstances mandating their presence on campus, is required to do so with supporting documentation. Communication, in accordance with the policy, was shared with all students at the beginning of the term so that they could make their arrangements in time. The same was acknowledged and signed by all students and parents.Despite prior notification, some students arrived on campus on December 28 without requisite permissions. Alternative accommodation and medical support, wherever required, was provided to students who reached the campus late at night.” the statement added.

However, the undergraduate student from Karnataka said he submitted an appeal, attaching proof that his flight for home was booked for December 29. He said that he explained that he had no accommodation in Delhi and continued to enter and exit the campus as usual.  On December 28, while he was in Delhi and planning to return to campus, he said he received an email in the evening, stating that he would not be allowed back on campus.

“Is 5.5 hours enough to vacate my room and invent accommodation for the night?” he wrote in an email to the administration that evening. “Perhaps to students more affluent or connected to family in Delhi, but this is not the case for me.” he added.

By 11:45 pm, he, along with another student, was standing outside the campus gate in cold, foggy conditions, he told The Indian Express “Our access cards had been disabled. Campus shuttles had stopped running. Sonipat felt unsafe,” he added. “We kept telling them we had no family, nowhere to go,” he said.

Only after he emailed the administration, copying the Vice-Chancellor,  stating that the university was “leaving us out in the cold where their cards reactivated around 10 minutes later,” he added.

Another undergraduate student said, “I had to wait for 2.5 hours outside the campus in the evening on December 28. I was told that my QR code was not activated because the form which I was supposed to fill to stay back on campus was not filled on time.”

“After 2.5 hours, I was told that I could stay in an off-campus accommodation and would be given an hour’s time the next morning to pack up my stuff and vacate. How can someone make a student wait outside in the cold for 2.5 hours without a solution?” he added.

A member of the Ashoka University Student Government, speaking to The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, said the restrictions were unprecedented. “This is happening for the first time,” the student representative said. “This was never the case earlier. A student would only leave the residence if they wished to during the summer break.”

The representative added that students typically pay hostel fees as part of the monsoon semester, covering residence between August 22 and December 31. “We have not been given a clear reason by the administration except for the fact that this is ‘as per policy’,” the student said.

The member of the student government believes the move may be linked to heightened scrutiny around student safety following the suicide of a 21-year-old student from Bengaluru on campus in February last year even as the administration has not stated this explicitly. “This might be because there would be views on deteriorating mental health issues of students during the winter break” the member added.