Hansraj College, one of the reputed colleges of Delhi University, does not have Non-veg food in the canteen. Ever since it reopened following the Covid-induced lockdown, Delhi University’s Hansraj College has stopped serving non-vegetarian food. Students said that non-vegetarian food was not being served in the canteen or the hostel, where roughly 200 students live.
Delhi University first shut down and switched to online classes in March 2020 when the national lockdown was announced at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed physical classes on February 17, 2022.
“Chicken was served before the lockdown, but when the college resumed after the lockdown, they shut it down. They don’t even serve eggs anymore,” said a second-year philosophy student.
A second-year mathematics honours student, who has come from Central Africa to study in the country, told The Indian Express that he left the hostel and moved to a private accommodation because of the dietary restrictions. “The food has become a problem. Many of us international students are non-vegetarians. The Hansraj hostel is good, but after the college banned non-veg, I had to leave,” the student said.
When asked about the development, Dr Rama Sharma, principal of Hansraj College, said: “We have stopped non-veg food on campus after Covid; this is the committee’s decision. The ones who want to consume non-veg can go outside the college campus and have it. About 90% of students are vegetarian. The vegetarian student or employee cannot accommodate everybody; they face inconvenience. For example, I don’t smoke, but if someone smokes in front of me, it will bother me. People who want to go out and consume it, they can, that’s their personal choice, but on-premises, it’s not allowed,” she said.
Asked why the decision was taken in the wake of the pandemic, she said: “We realised it only during Covid that our lifestyle is getting affected by consuming non-vegetarian food.”
