Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College announced fee cuts
for a few courses,  setting up a committee to provide laptops, allowing some second-year students to reside in hostels.

This
move comes after the
students’ union raised demands in light of the suicide of Aishwarya Reddy, an
IAS aspirant and B.Sc. (H) Statistics students who was found hanging  at her Shadnagar house in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district on November 2.

The college has removed charges of facilities that
students are unable to avail due to being off-campus.

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As most students are unable to avail certain
facilities of the college being off-campus, the college has removed these charges
from the fee structure. This has considerably reduced the fee. They have also
allowed students to pay the fee in installments.

“Keeping
in mind the exceptional circumstances of the COVID pandemic, current second
year students upon fresh application and on the basis of need will be allowed
to stay in the hostel after the commitments to incoming first years and the
current third years, who already are in the hostel, have been met,” the
college said in an official order.

The
college administration would consider accommodating more second and third-year
students in the hostel based on their requirements once the situation regains
normalcy.

A
committee has been set to overlook provision of devices to each and every student
who needs it. Every department is in the process of collecting the required
data of students needing devices, the college said.

Aishwarya Reddy had returned to her hometown, Telangana from Delhi in Marchafter hostel residents were asked to vacate by the college authorities in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. She wrote in her suicide note that she did not want to burden her parents with educational expenses, the police said.

Other colleges of Delhi University have also started taking measures to ensure access of education to all students. 

Miranda House
principal Bijaylaxmi Nanda said that the college is focusing on providing
internet data packs to students to facilitate online classes. They are also
paying heed to mental wellness and offering financial support to students.

St.
Stephens has also stepped up in recognizing monetary issues of students and
approached the principal for help.

“As
we are all aware, the pandemic has caused great distress in the society. There
is an increased financial hardship and some of our students are facing genuine
difficulties in accessing online classes and paying the fees,” staff
association president Nandita Narain said.

Simrit Kaur, the principal
of Shri Ram College of Commerce said that the college has been receiving
requests for provision of scholarships and laptops ever since the lockdown was
imposed,

“There are a few students who had their own devices but
there were a few who needed help with laptops, we have tried facilitating each
student with the kind of help they needed. We are also providing round-the-clock
counselling services to students so that if there is any issue it can be
addressed timely,” Kaur said.

Delhi
University colleges are closed since March in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
and are continuing lectures online since then.