'They bring both extra cash and trouble'

Having a student as a paying guest or a bunch of them in the spare floor of your house might bring in extra cash as rent, but there is a flip side to it as well.

“Students have a different lifestyle. They don't care about timings to return home. Loud music at odd hours, like late in the night, is the biggest issue,” said Satbir Kalan, resident of Satya Niketan in South Delhi.

Mriganka Jain of the same locality complained about the clothes girl students wear. “Girls wear short skirts and tops with straps. It does not look good when we are with our families. Our young daughters also get influenced," Jain,  mother of a 10-year-old girl, said.

Sakshi, history student at Venkateswara College, said it is true that the girls wear even those dresses which they would not wear at their own homes.

“But it's a problem with society. One needs freedom,” she said. Referring to a scene from movie Delhi 6, she said girl students from Delhi also change clothes once they reach college. 

“So it is more about freedom to wear what one wants rather than a cultural difference.”Loud music also troubles residents.

“When students in our area party, they play very loud music and despite repeated complaints they do not heed us. One needs to be sensitive to others' work and sleep schedules,” said Amit Raj, a lawyer and resident of Mukherjee Nagar, one of the favourite place of students to stay near North Campus.

Food habits

He said food habits in the area have changed and more fast food joints serving cheap and unhygienic food  have come up.

He added that people who are renting out rooms and flats do not have a problem as they are getting much more than the worth of the house.

“The problem is for people like us who do not get anything out of the business,” said Raj.A former professor, who is a member of a residents' welfare association, said students behave differently when they are in a group and when they are with their families.  And there is a need to find solutions to issues raised by both sides – landlords and students.

“Students have come to me and said that they get thrown out without being served a month's notice, or are commented upon about their food habits. So we should have some programmes to bring about a connect,” he said.