India, May 14 -- "Crammed like sardines" - this is how a student at National Law School of India University (NLSIU) described her current residential reality while speaking to HT.com following a massive campus blowout. Students allege they are bearing the brunt of the university's overcrowded hostels. That, coupled with a series of safety lapses, including a lift free-falling two floors and reports of sexual harassment due to inadequate boundary walls, has led the student body to issue a 24-hour ultimatum to the administration, demanding immediate accountability and structural reform.

A student, who doesn't want to be named, alleged that a rapid expansion policy initiated in 2021 has led to a population explosion that the 1980s-era campu...