Satya Niketan collapse: The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has demanded an independent probe into the ‘nexus’ between private paying guest operators and politicians, a nationwide structural safety audit of student housing, and more hostels for Delhi University students following the Satya Niketan building collapse.
Listing seven demands at a press conference in the national capital on Monday, CJP co-convener sought the probe not only into the owner of the collapsed building but also into what he called the ‘PG mafia’ operating in educational hubs.
“Our first demand is that there should be an independent criminal investigation not only of the owner, but also of the nexus between the owners and the politicians sitting in the government,” Das said.
The CJP demanded an engineering-grade structural audit of schools, colleges and student accommodations across the country, particularly in major student clusters such as Delhi’s .
“The youth of the country are the future. It is the responsibility of all of us to rectify their concerns and provide them with a safe environment,” Das said, demanding that such audits be carried out in a time-bound manner.
The outfit sought publication within 48 hours of records of 13 district committees constituted by the after the Hauz Rani fire to identify illegal and vulnerable buildings.
“We demand that within 48 hours you should publish all these records on your website,” Das said.
The records should include the committees’ constitution, daily and weekly reports, buildings inspected, violations detected, notices issued, demolition orders passed and action taken against officials and owners, he said.
“And the most important thing: Did you inspect Satya Niketan through these committees? You answer this,” he said.
The CJP also demanded a publicly searchable database of student accommodations, allowing students to verify the structural and safety certifications of buildings where they live.
It sought construction of more , pointing out that existing hostel capacity is around 7,000 while the university has a student population running into lakhs.
The outfit demanded ₹1 crore compensation for the families of each person killed in the collapse and ₹20 lakh for those critically injured.
Its seventh demand was ministerial accountability, with Das specifically seeking accountability from Delhi Urban Development, Planning and Education Minister.
“Ashish Sood, who is the Minister of Planning and Education, should be held accountable. This is a movement of accountability. The youth of our country are dying in such conditions. This is not acceptable, and we will not tolerate it,” Das said.
A five-storey boys’ PG accommodation near Delhi University’s South Campus collapsed around 1.30 pm on Sunday while repair work was underway, killing seven.
In the aftermath of the incident, the Delhi government to immediately seal illegal five-storey buildings and intensify inspections of nearby paying-guest accommodations and other structures.
Das said the tragedy represented both a failure to prevent illegal construction and a broader failure to regulate private .
“One is the immediate failure that illegal construction took place. Safety norms were not followed and were not enforced by MCD and local agencies. And the second layer of failure is the structural failure,” he said.
“There is such a large student population near the DU campus. But even then, an unregulated private PG economy was going on where there was no enforcement and all the regulations were not followed,” Das said.
The CJP said that there was no adequate follow-up or enforcement after the Hauz Rani fire. On June 3, 2026, a devastating fire broke out at Flourish Stays, a five-storey bed-and-breakfast (B&B) facility in south area near Malviya Nagar in South Delhi, killing 23 people and injuring dozens others.
CJP leader Deepak Baliyan said, “If the guilty are not punished, Jantar Mantar is the same, Delhi is the same, and we are the same. The fire will start again.” Baliyan said the suspension of officials was not enough and demanded stringent punishment for those responsible.
Here are 7 Demands of CJP after Satya Niketan building collapse in the national capital:
1. Independent Criminal Investigation: Launch an independent criminal investigation of not just the owner, but the nexus between the owner, politicians, and other persons to investigate the larger PG Mafia.
2. Time-Bound Structural Audits: Begin an engineering-grade structural audit of buildings, especially schools, colleges, and student accommodations within a time-bound manner, rehabilitate students, and enforce norms by sealing illegal constructions and penalising the owners.
3. Transparency of Committee Records within 48 Hours: Publish all records of the 13 district committees constituted after the Hauz Rani incident of June 3, 2026, including its enforcement reports and surveys within 48 hours. The government must clarify if Satya Niketan was surveyed, and why this major Delhi University student-PG hub was excluded if it was not.
4. Public Safety Database: Launch a public searchable database showing whether each student establishment is sanctioned and safe.
5. Expansion of University Hostels: Construct government hostels for Delhi University and other students, noting that only around 7,000 out of lakhs of students can currently be accommodated.
6. Immediate Financial Compensation: Provide immediate financial compensation of ₹1 Crore for the families of the dead and ₹20 Lakhs for the injured.
7. Fixing Ministerial Accountability: Fix direct ministerial accountability on Ashish Sood, the and Education Minister of Delhi, and answer why the work of the 13 district committees wound down under his administration.
(With agency inputs)
