New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- The Satya Niketan tragedy in Delhi is an extraordinary calamity, which calls for an extraordinary response. In September 2026, five college students lost their lives in a building collapse in Delhi's Satya Niketan neighbourhood, not far from the capital's elite diplomatic enclave.

These were students from other states who had joined Delhi University for further studies and were staying in old, unmaintained buildings at steep rents due to the shortage of university-provided student accommodation.

This disaster is not an incident to bemoan and then consign to the vault of public memory. It is a crisis to act upon.

A functional democracy is one where all citizens have the right to reach for their dreams, and the gov...