A disabled student at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (DU SOL) study centre in Hansraj College was forced to crawl up to the second floor after being denied access to essential facilities, sparking outrage and protests.
Activists from the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), along with disabled students, staged a demonstration at DU on Thursday, February 27, condemning the incident as a gross violation of the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwD).
The student, identified as Mahima, was offered assistance by a professor, who suggested she be lifted to the second floor.
“A professor told me that I can be lifted to the second floor. But I declined and crawled up,” she told the Hindu.
The incident took place on Sunday during Personal Contact Program (PCP) classes at Hansraj College, where Mahima was attending in-person sessions. She said that while her classes follow a hybrid model, requiring her to be physically present only on Sundays, her first-semester classes were held at another college.
Demand for action
The protesters have demanded immediate action against the DU SOL administration, including the principal, for failing to ensure accessibility for disabled students.
They also called for a comprehensive accessibility audit of all SOL study centres and insisted that PCP classes be conducted only in colleges with adequate infrastructure for students with disabilities.
On Friday, Assistant Professor of History Maya John wrote to Vice-Chancellor Prof Yogesh Singh, seeking better facilities for students with mobility impairments. In her letter, she highlighted the repeated complaints of "insensitive and shameful treatment" meted out to SOL students due to the lack of proper regulations at the study centres.
A delegation of KYS activists and disabled students also submitted a memorandum to the DU Vice-Chancellor, urging immediate intervention.
The memorandum emphasised that DU colleges are required by University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines to have Equal Opportunity Cells (EOCs) or Enabling Units (EUs) to support disabled students.
However, the protesters alleged that these units remain inaccessible to SOL students, many of whom come from marginalised backgrounds.
DU SOL’s response
Reacting to the incident, SOL Principal Payal Mago claimed that the matter was not brought to their notice.
“We would have made the necessary arrangements on the ground floor of the college. We have been following all the protocols for Persons with Disabilities (PwD),” she told The Hindu.
An official revealed that out of nearly four lakh students enrolled in DU SOL’s undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes, over 2,000 are PwDs, raising further concerns about the lack of accessibility across multiple study centres.
