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PG..a word that all students in the country know, and those who live in rural areas and whose children are still studying in village primary schools up to standard 7 do not. PG stands for Paying Guest, it means that if you pay money in any city, you will get facilities like accommodation, food, sleep etc. The word PG was earlier heard only in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata as young men and women from all over the country flocked there for employment. There was no hostel facility for them, if the hotel became expensive, the needy youth would be accommodated by the needy family themselves, and charged a reasonable fee.

Government and Institutional buildings for colleges and schools were so strong and huge that students never got time to stay in PG. But for the last fifteen years, the number of colleges and universities has increased, the classrooms have increased, and no one has been able to fill up the admissions but not accommodate the students. Only by collecting huge fees from the colleges and giving high dreams to the parents and students, the colleges took their responsibility by taking admission in the colleges in the metro cities, now the PG game started from where these students stay, go, here.

They bought a building near the college, built a small dhokli-like room in it, housed three or four people in a room, charged huge fees and kept the students in horrible conditions, that is PG. Although there are some genuine PGs but their number is very less. The PG had to be called today because there was news that Delhi’s Satya Niketan PG collapsed and some children were trapped inside. The exact information is not available till the time of this writing but if the PG collapses and the children are buried, it must be terrible news. Some parents send their loved ones to study in Delhi or other cities in order to succeed, to get a degree, with pain and suffering. And if such a tragedy happens there, it would be devastating. Now talking about Delhi PG.Satya Niketan of Delhi… an important place to stay for students coming from many states of the country. A large number of PG and private hostels operate here as it is close to Delhi University, coaching and other educational institutes. But the building collapse incident in Sathya Niketan on Sunday has raised a big question—

Who is really responsible for the safety of students living in PG in Delhi?

On 6 September 2026, a multi-storied building collapsed in the Satya Niketan area causing chaos. Teams including Delhi Fire Service, Police, NDRF reached the spot after getting information about the incident. An operation was carried out to pull people out of the rubble. Initial reports have revealed that one person has died and several people have been seriously injured. However, the figures are likely to change during the rescue operation. The building had a PG arrangement for students and was found to have a large number of people living in it. In PG Durdhatna, accidents are less and negligence is more. Because The first question every building collapses is—

How did the building fall?

In this incident of Satya Niketan, during the preliminary investigation, information has come to light that construction or renovation work is going on in the lower part of the building. Now the investigation also needs to be done in the direction of whether the necessary approvals were taken for this work and whether the structural safety of the building was maintained during the construction. If there is some kind of mistake in construction and the building is weakened due to it, the responsibility does not rest with only one person. The role of building owner, PG manager, contractor and concerned approving and inspecting departments should also be examined.

PG for up to 75 students?

According to preliminary reports, a Boys PG named ‘Hostel Days’ was running in the collapsed building of Satya Niketan and its capacity is around 75 beds. This raises the most important question—if such a large number of students live in a single building, were the building capacity, fire safety, structural stability and emergency exits regularly checked? Students staying in PG usually do not check the construction quality or approval of the building. They pay rent and expect safe accommodation. So the responsibility of security ultimately falls on the system.

How many PG in Delhi?

The incident has also raised questions about the actual figures of PG and private hostels running in Delhi. Currently there is no single, complete and updated public official database available for the total number of PGs in Delhi. Around 700 private hostels and PGs were mentioned during the discussion of bringing private PGs and hostels under the licensing regime by Delhi Police during 2022.But this figure is not the total number of PGs running in Delhi in 2026. In fact there are a large number of houses in Delhi where an owner or operator rents out several rooms of a residential building to students. The status of each such place is not the same and it is not correct to assume that all places are registered in the same official register. So it is necessary for the government and local bodies to conduct a joint survey to get the exact figure of how many official and how many unofficial PGs there are in Delhi.

What is going on under the name ‘PG’?

Common residential houses are professionally managed as PGs in several areas of Delhi. Increasing the number of rooms in a building, creating more beds by partitioning, using common spaces as accommodation, using the basement for a different purpose and sometimes building more than the sanctioned plan—such issues have been raised from time to time. But the problem is who will check the PG business regularly and uniformly once it has started? The answer to this question should be clear.

Just holding the PG owner responsible will not work

When a mishap occurs in a PG, the first finger is pointed at the owner or manager. Action must be taken if he has broken the rules.But if the illegal construction in a building has been going on for years, there are complaints at the local level or changes are made without approval and yet the system is not aware of it or action is not taken despite being aware, then the role of the government system also needs to be examined. Previous building disasters in Delhi have also raised similar questions.

A building had collapsed earlier in Satya Niketan This is not the first building disaster for Sathya Niketan. Also in April 2022, a four-storey building under construction in Satya Niketan collapsed. In this incident, laborers were killed and some people were injured. So, after four years, such a serious incident happening again in the same area is not just a matter of seeing it as an accident. Here the quality of construction, approval and local monitoring system should also be examined.

Other tragedies in Delhi also sound a warning

Other areas of Delhi have also seen incidents of building collapses in recent years. Issues such as illegal extra floors, basement excavation, poor construction materials and structural alterations have come to light in some incidents. These events make one thing clear— A building does not fall suddenly. Often there are years of negligence, illegal alterations or poor construction processes behind it. And when dozens to hundreds of people live in the same building, the risk multiplies. Must have ‘Safety Certificate’ for PG It is high time that PGs in Delhi are seen not just as rental houses but as accommodation with security arrangements like hostels. There should be a central digital register for each PG. In it—Name of building owner,Name of PG Administrator,Allowable capacity of building,Actual number of inhabitants,Approved building plan,Fire Safety Certificate,Structural Safety Certificate,Electrical Safety,lift safety,emergency exit,Basement use,Illegal construction situation,Police Verification,All such information should be there.

Why not Safety Audit of every PG?

After the Satya Niketan incident, the biggest task should be that the Delhi Government, MCD, Delhi Fire Service and Police jointly conduct a Safety Audit of PG and Private Hostels across Delhi. PGs especially located around Delhi University, JNU, Jamia, coaching hubs and large academic areas should be investigated immediately. Merely giving a notice to a non-compliant building will not work. Procedures should also be in place to safely move students and evacuate buildings where there is a real risk. The question is not just about a building.This incident of Satya Niketan should no longer be reported as just a tragedy.This incident is a big question mark against Delhi’s PG model. In a building that houses 50, 60 or 75 students, is the responsibility of the building owner only or the entire system? Whose responsibility is it to find out if a PG is running illegally? Who will take action if the building has more construction than the approved plan?If construction is going on dangerously in the basement, who will stop it?

And the biggest question—

Will the system wake up before disaster strikes or wait to find students in the rubble each time?The Satya Niketan disaster may have been a case of one building wall collapsing, but it has also shaken several walls of Delhi’s PG system, construction approvals and government oversight.