The story so far: The tragic collapse of an illegal, muti-storied PG accommodation in New Delhi, which claimed the lives of seven young people and left several others seriously injured, has understandably triggered widespread public outrage. Print, electronic and social media are resounding with reports, debates, discussions, op-eds and, predictably, politically coloured statements. The arrests of the owners of the killer structure are necessary and welcome, but insufficient as a remedial response; especially if such tragedies are not to recur.

“Greedy for rental income, owners built extra floors,” reads one headline. Perhaps the larger point we are missing is this: it is not the greed of the PG owners alone that caused the tragedy; it is the product of a greedy system operating under the colluding eyes of those whose duty it was to prevent tragedies of this kind. Bigger point: If the discussion centers on illegal construction, negligence, arrests and compensation alone, we will miss the forest for the trees. The collapse of the building is only the visible manifestation of a much deeper crisis: the criminal neglect of education, not just in NCR but country-wide, and the failure to provide safe, adequate and affordable accommodation for students.

And this, not because we lacked the required resources, but because we value money above life. The resultant tragic loss of lives must be seen as human sacrifices made at the altar of the God of Greed. Thanks to be scandalous failure of our education enterprise nationally, Delhi has become an educational refuge for young people from across India. About 50 per cent of the 700,000 students enrolled in DU colleges are from other states. Each one of them, numbering some 350,000, needs accommodation. The infrastructure available to accommodate them is woefully inadequate. Such a state of affairs serves as a goldmine for PG accommodation sharks, who are rich enough to grease the palms of those in authority.

The abysmal demand-supply shortfall forces our young students to risk their life for the sake of education, precisely because the option to be safe doesn’t exist for them. This is a national shame. This problem is not unique to Delhi. In varying degrees it prevails in our cities and metropolises. Given the above, the untimely death of the seven students in the Satya Niketan tragedy cannot be classified as an accident. It is a predictable by-product of greed-induced systemic failure that countenanced human lives being gambled with to make a big, quick buck. Here’s the question that stares us in the face from this tragedy: Why do so many young Indians have to flock to Delhi, leaving their home........

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