Dr BR Ambedkar University Delhi and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women have agreed to keep open a disputed gate on their shared Kashmere Gate campus from 8am to 8pm, after students protested that new barricades and restricted access were disrupting movement between classrooms, playgrounds and common facilities.
IGDTUW had approached the Delhi government seeking approval for the gate, citing the night-time safety of women students. AUD opposed any unilateral installation in an October 3 letter, saying the decision should take into account the government’s 2009 allocation of space for the two universities, which have shared the premises for nearly two decades.
AUD said the proposed gate could become “an impediment and obstacle” for its faculty and students accessing classrooms, playgrounds and the auditorium. On Thursday, iron railings were being installed at the location, near a common passage used by students of both institutions. Members of the RSS-affiliated ABVP and Left-backed SFI were protesting at the site, saying the gate could restrict access to IGDTUW’s playground.
The agreement to keep the gate open during the day is intended to allow free movement while retaining a security arrangement at night. The institutions have not indicated in the supplied report whether the arrangement will be reviewed after a fixed period or whether the Delhi government has formally approved the proposed gate.
The latest dispute comes amid broader access restrictions at the AUD campus. During a visit, Times of India found multiple layers of barricading, including iron gates around the vice-chancellor’s office, which has been designated a no-protest zone. The main entrance leading towards the administrative block has also remained shut for more than a year, according to the report.
Students said the restrictions date back to protests in 2025 after disciplinary action linked to an alleged suicide attempt at AUD’s Karampura campus. They said they are now being funnelled through a narrow pavement leading to classrooms, with limited access to lawns and other open sitting spaces. The administrative block, which includes the canteen, is separated from much of the campus, they said.
Separately, students have been protesting outside a gate near the Dara Shikoh Museum for 11 days, demanding better infrastructure. The demonstrations have placed campus circulation, shared facilities and security arrangements at the centre of a dispute involving two institutions operating within the same premises.
AUD said there was “no restriction” on students accessing the administrative blocks. It said the arrangements near the vice-chancellor’s office were made “for administrative and security purposes” and that the university had responded positively to students’ “permissible and legitimate demands”.
The immediate operational arrangement is that the disputed gate will remain open between 8am and 8pm. The wider questions over the campus’s barricades, the closure of the main entrance and the allocation of shared space remain part of the ongoing dispute between the universities, students and the Delhi government.
