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Deepannita Misra

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After the anti-drug campaign in Ambedkar University, we trace the origins of a similar campaign in the University of Delhi (DU), through the lens of the Leaders For Tomorrow (LFT) organisation.

 

A couple of days ago, the Social Welfare Department of the government of Delhi launched an anti-drug program, named ‘Khwahishen Udaan Ki’, at Ambedkar University. Having boarded the same train of thought, the colleges of DU, in collaboration with the Leaders For Tomorrow (LFT) – a non-profit youth organization – have carried out campaigns pertaining to drug abuse as well as ragging.

The Anti-Drug and Anti Ragging (ADAR) campaign has been carried out in several DU colleges. With the University welcoming several outstation students every year, it becomes imperative to talk about these issues on an individual level. Problems usually germinate and cultivate themselves through the irrigation of peer pressure, as has been witnessed in most of the cases. The ADAR is specifically oriented towards the freshers and making them aware of the menace that occasionally tends to take a toll on the campus. The necessary measures to be taken and the need to make them feel the presence of a helping hand are some of the other areas which ADAR focuses upon.

While the presence of the LFT is quite evident, it is important to note that it is independent of college societies and holds campaigns in campuses all across the country. Although the menace of ragging has taken a back seat in recent years, considering the legal action taken in the form of the anti-ragging forms collected from students during admissions every year, the problem of drug and substance abuse still persists. Rohit Tomar, a third year B.Com (Programme) student of Aryabhatta College, who is a member of the LFT as well, feels that “[t]he University can keep a check on substance abuse by restricting the sale of drugs to a particular area outside the campus, say 1 kilometre away”.

In Sri Venkateswara College, all the students who registered with ADAR pledged to fight against the looming menace in campus. Jatin Swami, a third year student having pledged for the same, and the former head of LFT in the institution, shares: “Since the programme is centric to the freshers, there is the development of a sense of safety as well as the courage to come up and report cases, which becomes impossible otherwise, due to the communication gap”. He further adds, “The environment of a college is decided by its authorities. Just filling forms never helps”.

There are Anti-Ragging Committees present in most of the colleges with the college authorities having an upper-hand. They are responsible for taking action if the situation demands it.

Being a youth organization, they have an all-encompassing hand that overarches other issues, including a plantation drive (Adopt A Plant-ADAPT), cleanliness drive, collection drive, Visits for Compassion and other red-letter day events, all pertaining to particular social issues, in order to make the youth aware of the menace in our society, and how to tackle it. Their efforts prove that after all, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”.

 

Feature Image Credit: The Millenium Post

 

Shrija Ganguly

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graduating from University of Delhi (DU) is still considered prestigious, but why do the same students with all the merit, never want to return as teachers to their own University?

 

In a few months, a prestigious University of Delhi (DU) degree in hand, the real world with its blankness and stiff competition will begin to look curiously topsy-turvy for most third-year students. Those rose-tinted glasses, which made life in college appear idyllic for two years, will have to be inevitably chucked aside in favour of the grittier, ‘realistic’, adult perspectives which only point to one of these two scenarios, in case you are a third-year student: either you have zeroed in on an employment/higher education opportunity which you feel reasonably confident about cinching, or, you have your feet pointing in multiple directions and in no particular direction at the same time. Either way, your ultimate goal is viable employment. But what if your feet took a U-turn and chose to come back to the University, looking for employment? In fact, how do students in DU truly feel about coming back and teaching at the University one day?

“I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of becoming a university lecturer. It’s highly unstable [as an employment opportunity]… Look at the state of our universities today; there is no freedom of speech and the way our ad-hoc teachers are treated is inhumane. My teachers themselves tell me not to become a lecturer. What more do I need as a proof?” says a Botany student from the North Campus.

Delhi University Teachers' Association strike
Delhi University Teachers’ Association strike

I remember one of my teachers in the English department attesting to something similar: the foundations of higher education in India are so shaky that the next generation dare not step on it, from fear that the existing plane may collapse too. Over the last one year itself, numerous national dailies have covered the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) protests for pay-rise and against the lack of permanent positions for lecturers, the overwhelming despair and suicides of PhD research scholars when they stared at their bleak future, shutting down of centres for the Humanities in several colleges, protests against the teaching of liberal ideas and values in universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and many other related events. If a severe lack of funding plagues the Arts departments across India, the treatment meted out to lab assistants and ad-hoc lecturers in the Sciences fares no better. Teaching in a university, in short, comes with more perils than advantages.

“It’s sad, but the truth is that even I would not recommend any student to become a lecturer these days,” I recall overhearing a teacher telling another in the corridors of my college once. One after the other, as attacks mount upon the state of university education in our country from all sides, it becomes viable to look for alternatives. There are private-sector jobs and the ever desired civil services exams eyed by more and more students as the pool of competition widens further and further. Some even question what the point of an M.A. degree is, if the road to research scholarship and teaching appears this murky.  And if things are bad today, how much worse can they get tomorrow? It seems as if one door will shut forever for most of us, by the time we leave DU with our degrees next year.

 

Feature image credits: YourStory

Image credits: DU Beat

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]  

 

 

Being a Delhi University student offers ample opportunities for internships that aren’t limited to what you study during your degree. Certain options are common, irrespective of streams. A look at what entails popular internship job profiles.

 

It can seem very daunting to find yourself being idle in college. Somehow, everyone but yourself seems to be bustling with things like society, internships, or a social life (gasp). With the internet, however, it has become easier to navigate through two of the above. Having seen people around me successfully engage in one of those two things, I feel like I have ample information on the most popular internship jobs, skills required for them, their exposure, and so on. Here’s a brief:

Content Writing

First things first, content is pronounced like the “co” in “coffee”, it seems. That’s definitely something you should know about content writing. It’s usually a work from home job that pays per rupees 100/n number of words or articles you write. The pay mostly ranges from 2,000-4,000 rupees a month, fluctuations depending on the work you do and its frequency. A flair for writing, knowing your audience and appealing to them, as well as creativity are the essential skills.

Campus Ambassadors

Bonus: This is something that you can say you do to sound important to your equally clueless friends/family/somewhat-clue-having Sharma ji. Big companies, event organisers, and new companies launching a product recruit Campus Ambassadors in order to spread information about their product or event, through means such as word of mouth and social media. The pay ranges, depending upon the popularity of the company and your performance (like sales or registrations). Payment in kind is also done via vouchers for products or free samples, or future long-term association with the company. Good communication and social media skills are the core skills required.

Teaching/Volunteering With Charity Organisations

You’ll be surprised and slightly happier with the world to realise how many wonderful organisations are working for societal betterment. Teaching the underprivileged is a big part, where elementary education is given out by helping with reading and maths. Non-Governmental Organisations also have jobs like the ones mentioned above as well fundraising, marketing, web design, and so on. As the name suggests, it is mostly unpaid with provision of certificates but the satisfaction gained from making a small change is what draws volunteers to it.

Social Media Marketing

Put your obsession with memes and putting up those story status things to an actual use! Similar to the work, remuneration and skills required of a Campus Ambassador, this is mainly of the work-from-home kind and it helps if you have an influential presence (so not your best friends liking all your posts) and knowledge of social media to create eye-catching stories, captions for events that result in mass participation.

Web Designer

While this isn’t limited to a degree, it requires specific skills like knowledge related to Coding, Programming, CSS and Java among others. Knowledge of extremely fun-sounding tasks like Data Interpretation and Analysis is usually required. Pay ranges from 3,000-6,000 rupees a month and both full-time and part-time options are available.

 

Image Credits: DU Beat

Rishika Singh

[email protected]

 

 

The recent policy change in calculation of points for teaching experience will affect hundreds of DU’s ad-hoc teachers.

In an environment where ad-hoc teachers face uncertainty and battle for fair-play on a daily basis, the University of Delhi (DU) has come up with a new policy which could make things even more difficult. In this unprecedented move which only tips the scales further, DU has altered the 2013 University ordinance which allotted twenty points for teaching experience. According to the new policy, one year of teaching experience will now equal a mere four points. But if the teacher has five years of teaching experience, he or she shall be rewarded twenty points.

The magnitude of blatant disregard for ad-hoc teachers’ toil, experience and time is clear in the policy which slashes the points rewarded in a brutal manner. It is expected to affect as many as 4,500 ad-hoc teachers vying for permanent positions. A report by The Indian Express marks out how significant these points are during the screening process for permanent recruitment.

Pankaj Garg, a Mathematics lecturer and member of the academic council, spoke to The Indian Express on this issue, stating: “We have submitted a new formula to Dean of College and coordinator core committee screening for calculating points of teaching experience.” Indeed, the teachers and members of the academic and executive council have been unanimously vocal in their condemnation of the new policy, while actively raising an objection to it. The massive reduction in points not only affects the current teachers, but will also have an adverse impact on the points for teaching experience calculated for the future generations of DU’s lecturers.

This change, brought about after the University centralised the screening process for recruitment of assistant professors, leaves not only the current ad-hoc teachers, but also the students who might have desired to become university lecturers one day in the future, in an utter flux. Such unforeseen and adverse policy changes on the part of a major, reputable central university like DU, do not reflect well upon the state of higher education in government institutions. They are only the mirror reflections of a sad, deeply infested public education system, now rotting away at its core. While a University official refused to comment beyond stating to The Indian Express that they would look into the issue, only time will tell which side finally wins, and whether or not the ad-hoc teachers get their due.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

 

Independence Day began with the TV blaring much earlier than usual in the morning at several homes, as it usually does every year, when the upbeat Modi fans and some of the plainer, curious souls like me were unable to catch the Prime Minister upfront at the Red Fort. So we resorted to half-heartedly watching him live on our personal screens in the end. For me, at least, a smattering of vibrant saffron, that colour which has taken on a furious new meaning in the past year, came to overshadow the ‘red’ in the Red Fort this time. And so the speech began. In a typical, conciliatory fashion, the Modi-esque rhetoric was employed as if to simmer the heat under all burning issues. “Bharat jodo (connect India) should be a popular slogan”, he said, like Bharat Chhodo (Quit India). International problems and Kashmir and the Goods and Service Tax and everything in between, including the staggering ‘natural calamity’ at Gorakhpur, were quickly addressed and laid aside like sizzling meat off the grill. The speech was careful not to delve into any topic in too much detail. One got the sense that there was much to say and too little time. But a singular theme kept reverberating over and over — digitisation.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 69th Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2015.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 69th Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2015.

Should the word ‘digitisation’ bother me and you?

As a student, my ears perk up almost by some innate instinct at words like ‘technology’, ‘digitisation’, ‘Digital India’, ‘science’, ‘demonetisation’, ‘Internet’, etc. which get thrown about in the air casually like playthings these days. This 15th of August proves just how far we have come in our journey of naturalising these terms and carving out a space for them into our everyday lives. These are also the terms we take forward into our new dictionary, stepping into the P.M.’s ‘New India’ of 2022. One does not stare at his or her phone, look at the plethora of payment-making apps, and go ‘Oh!’ anymore. Tapping on smartphones comes naturally to us millennials, and the government plans to utilise this trait of ours to the max. We leave a stylish impression on the global platform – that the India paraded in front of the United Nations and elsewhere is fun, hip, and keeps up with the times. The truth is slightly more complicated.

For every new word having to do with digitisation, which this Independence Day speech embeds in our minds, there are several others which get replaced without a whisper. One of these major terms is ‘education’. Precisely for this reason, the new words bother me to no end, especially since I happen to hail from a minority — my loyalties lie, unconventionally, with the Humanities. When the P.M. talks of the ‘Badal Sakta Hai’ (It Can Change) attitude in this country, I know that it cannot stand the test of time where the education system is concerned. Forget about change, education does not even score a hit in his speech. It finds no mention. As university students, what should make sparks fly in our minds are not those claims and promises which the speech consciously makes, but rather the things he leaves out. God is in the details. And if anything, the recent case of changing the content in the History textbooks of Maharashtra is but a miniscule example of how rotten the macrocosm under the current government is. What about the plight of ad-hoc lecturers in universities? Why were there even talks of shutting down centres, including that of Women’s Studies, in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences? What about the lack of funding in the University of Delhi and cutting down of seats in our universities? What about the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University requesting that an ostentatious military tank be placed within the campus? What about the lack of job prospects?

It makes me believe more and more that we are scared of educated citizens and the Humanities somehow. Politicians avoid talking about it on the national platform because it is that one field which can blow the lid off of human injustice. It is also the most effective weapon with which to target the shortcomings of governments. Yet, I am a student and a girl child who will manage to have received a university degree by 2018 — nothing short of a mean feat in itself, especially in India — and I can attest to the fact that the P.M.’s Digital India will crumble into a heap of ignorance, violence, and atrocities without the basic foundational pillar of that very education.

Education swatted away like a fly on the windshield

When the P.M. says, ‘Our resolve is to build a New India by 2022’, it is very clear that he targets a certain section of the population which is blind enough to the state of education or uneducated itself so much so that it gulps down the speech without a pinch of salt. That leaves out university spaces, and unfortunately for students of the Humanities, me and you. Even if I had an orientation towards the I.T. or banking or all those wonderful sectors that the P.M. always chooses to focus upon selectively, the latest International Labour Organisation findings point to the fact that I might still be staring dead into the face of unemployment.

Right from school, we are exposed to a toxic mix of jingoistic patriotism, saffronisation, disregard for any subject other than the Sciences, and then a complete disregard for university spaces: unfortunately, this will be the India of 2022 if careful attention is not paid. And I, for one, sincerely believe that though India may be ready to ‘tackle any kind of change’, this is not the one on anybody’s mind.

Jai Hind!

 

Image Credits: Indian Express

Deepannita Misra
[email protected]

“Who cares about sexual orientation at the University of Delhi (DU)?” Clearly, not as many people as there ought to be, as the students of the LGBTQ community narrate their own perspectives.

Seconds to go before class and I am extremely bothered by the news notifications screaming from the lock screen, becoming harder and harder to ignore by the minute. So bothered, in fact, that I stop staring at them and slam my phone screen-side down on the bench. It makes a tremendous noise but (thankfully) no cracks on the tempered glass. Questioning glances pour in from all directions. Someone is just about to articulate his question when the door creaks open. The professor walks in, embodying an air of seriousness, as classes begin on a disturbingly ordinary note. Life resumes, but the headline on my phone still says, “Trump bans transgenders from U.S. military.” Little do most students realise, or care to acknowledge, that the international imbroglio strikes much closer home.

Trump’s U-turn: bans transgenders from U.S. Military
Trump’s U-turn: bans transgenders from U.S. Military

Earlier this year, Kamla Nehru College’s (KNC) English department organised LitLuminous, its annual literary fest, around the theme “LGBTQ: Literatures Going Beyond The Quotidian”. It turned out to be something of a novelty, what with the outpouring of appreciation and participation from students across the university. An excellent panel of speakers, including Rajorshi Das, Vikramaditya Sahai, Amalina Dave and Divya Dureja, sought to enlighten those present. DU’s LGBTQ student community must have rejoiced. Many students actually left the building realising how important and reassuring it is to have acceptance, no matter what their sexual orientation. I certainly gained a lot of insight from the discussions held in that dimly lit theatre. And if someone wanted to, I believe they could have smashed right out of the proverbial ‘closet’ that afternoon, so to speak. Most of the students and laymen that I have come across, also think of the University of Delhi as a safe haven for diverse communities.

“But for a second, also look at how this event turned out to be ‘one of a kind’. I mean, why? If the university was openly receptive, wouldn’t there be more effort? Moreover, the subject is still considered taboo. Hence, you get that kind of overwhelming response. With KNC’s event, there was curiosity. People wanted to ‘know’ about the LGBTQ persons… But at the same time, they considered the event to be ‘bold’. We need to normalise the notion that LGBTQ people exist in DU and all across the country,” a semi-irate closet lesbian, who would like to remain anonymous, texts me her response. Clearly, my complacency will be short-lived. Maybe people do not understand or accept the ground reality yet, not daring to go beyond the notion that members of the LGBTQ community have quirky sartorial choices and an outspoken attitude regarding sexual orientations.

Shubham Kaushik, a recent graduate from Miranda House and yet to open up about her orientation to her parents, agreed to shed some light on the issue. While she can see the baby steps heading in the right direction, she laments that this is, at the end of the day, “a country which criminalizes homosexuality.” She points out that there may not be active discrimination in DU, but neither is there an open acceptance. “Disapproval hurts,” she says, recalling that several of her acquaintances have faced harsh criticism as students in DU. In a heartfelt audio note (recorded very kindly, despite a horrid cold threatening to sabotage her voice), she concludes with suggesting that while a ‘pride parade’ may not be the solution, DU’s colleges could certainly do with a set of concrete guidelines on the administrative level,  addressing the grievances of students bunched together dismissively in the ‘Other’ category. And it all makes sense. If there can be a ‘Women’s Development Cell’ (WDC) for every college, why not a special cell for the LGBTQ community? It makes me wonder if we, as a collective, are afraid to acknowledge that they are a minority too, in terms of equality.

Riya Sharma’s story, a transgender student from SOL, was widely covered
Riya Sharma’s story, a transgender student from SOL, was widely covered

The Hindustan Times reported that not a single student enrolled in the university under the ‘Other’ category recently provided for in the admission forms, in 2015-16. Clearly, this ‘Other’-ing and singling out of individuals cannot be the solution. This was also the national daily which reported that DU’s student elections do not tend to focus on this segment of the population at all as if the LGBTQ students did not exist. There are no sensitization drives in the campus. When last year a transgender student, Riya Sharma, narrated her tale of campus discrimination, it began to be widely covered by various news portals. “Even the teachers laughed,” she had said, and it quickly became the headline. I could not help but notice that she said this as a student of the School of Open Learning (SOL), where classes are, in any case, held just once a week. What would give a Riya Sharma the confidence to attend any regular DU college, coming to class for five, sometimes even six days in a week?

I suggested that the LGBTQ students could come out to help themselves, organising fests and events in a fashion similar to other minorities in DU, like say, the North-East fests. Vineeta Rana, an LGBTQ member, and a third-year student herself, concurred. She voted in favour of a Queer Pride Parade in DU, not unlike the one organised by IIT Delhi in the North Campus last October, only much larger in scale and more widely publicised. “The Delhi Pride Parade is held in November/December, and I have exams then, so it is difficult to attend,” she says, while opposing the fact that LGBTQ students are discriminated against in DU. On the other hand, I could not be so sure.

IIT Delhi organised a LGBT Pride Parade in North Campus in 2016.
IIT Delhi organised an LGBT Pride Parade in North Campus in 2016.

After having spoken to a number of students, some agreeing to the fact that DU is their safe haven (unlike the outside world) and others not, one thing emerges clearly. Whether or not they would like to openly scream out the truth about their sexuality from the rooftops, all of them are aware of their identity as a minority, owing to the covert discrimination in the eyes of the onlookers. ‘It’s all in the mind,’ as the proverb goes. And the only way to change minds is via active sensitization, something a mere notification on my phone screen cannot achieve.

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

 

Image credits:

  1. The Daily Mail
  2. NBC News
  3. Indian Express

Seconds to go before class and I am extremely bothered by the news notifications screaming from the lock screen, becoming harder and harder to ignore by the minute. So bothered, in fact, that I stop staring at them and slam my phone screen-side down on the bench. It makes a tremendous noise but (thankfully) no cracks on the tempered glass. Questioning glances pour in from all directions. Someone is just about to articulate his question when the door creaks open. The professor walks in, embodying an air of seriousness, as classes begin on a disturbingly ordinary note. Life resumes, but the headline on my phone still says, “Trump bans transgenders from U.S. military”. Little do most students realise, or dare to acknowledge, that the international imbroglio strikes much closer home.

1.Riya Sharma’s story, a transgender student from SOL, was widely covered
1. Riya Sharma’s story, a transgender student from SOL, was widely covered

Earlier this year, Kamla Nehru College’s (KNC) English department organised LitLuminous, its annual literary fest, around the theme “LGBTQ: Literatures Going Beyond The Quotidian”. It turned out to be something of a novelty, what with the outpouring of appreciation and participation from students across the university. An excellent panel of speakers, including Rajorshi Das, Vikramaditya Sahai, Amalina Dave and Divya Dureja, sought to enlighten those present. DU’s LGBTQ student community must have rejoiced. Many students actually left the building realising how important and reassuring it is to have acceptance, no matter what their sexual orientation. I certainly gained a lot of insight from the discussion held in that dimly lit theatre. And if someone wanted to, I believe they could have smashed right out of the proverbial ‘closet’ that afternoon, so to speak. Most of the students and laymen that I have come across, also think of the University of Delhi as a safe haven for diverse communities.

Trump’s U-turn: bans transgenders from U.S. Military
Trump’s U-turn: bans transgenders from U.S. Military

“But for a second, also look at how this event turned out to be ‘one of a kind’. I mean, why? If the university was openly receptive, wouldn’t there be more effort? Moreover, the subject is still considered taboo. Hence, you get that kind of overwhelming response. With KNC’s event, there was curiosity. People wanted to ‘know’ about the LGBTQ persons… But at the same time, they considered the event to be ‘bold’. We need to normalise the notion that LGBTQ people exist in DU and all across the country,” a semi-irate closet lesbian, who would like to remain anonymous, texts me her response. Clearly, my complacency will be short-lived. Maybe people do not understand or accept the ground reality yet, not daring to go beyond the notion that members of the LGBTQ community have quirky sartorial choices and an outspoken attitude regarding sexual orientations.

Shubham Kaushik, a recent graduate from Miranda House and yet to open up about her orientation to her parents, agreed to shed some light on the issue. While she can see the baby steps heading in the right direction, she laments that this is, at the end of the day, “a country which criminalizes homosexuality.” She points out that there may not be active discrimination in DU, but neither is there an open acceptance. “Disapproval hurts,” she says, recalling that several of her acquaintances have faced harsh criticism as students in DU. In a heartfelt audio note (recorded very kindly, despite a horrid cold threatening to sabotage her voice), she concludes with suggesting that while a ‘pride parade’ may not be the solution, DU’s colleges could certainly do with a set of concrete guidelines on the administrative level,  addressing the grievances of students bunched together dismissively in the ‘Other’ category. And it all makes sense. If there can be a ‘Women’s Development Cell’ (WDC) for every college, why not a special cell for the LGBTQ community? It makes me wonder if we, as a collective, are afraid to acknowledge that they are a minority too, in terms of equality.

 

The Hindustan Times reported that not a single student enrolled in the university under the ‘Other’ category recently provided for in the admission forms, in 2015-16. Clearly, this ‘Other’-ing and singling out of individuals cannot be the solution. This was also the national daily which reported that DU’s student elections do not tend to focus on this segment of the population at all, as if the LGBTQ students did not exist. There are no sensitization drives in the campus. When last year a transgender student, Riya Sharma, narrated her tale of campus discrimination, it began to be widely covered by various news portals. “Even the teachers laughed,” she had said, and it quickly became the headline. I could not help but notice that she said this as a student of the School of Open Learning (SOL), where classes are, in any case, held just once a week. What would give a Riya Sharma the confidence to attend any regular DU college, coming to class for five, sometimes even six days in a week?

I suggested that the LGBTQ students could come out to help themselves, organising fests and events in a fashion similar to other minorities in DU, like say, the North-East fests. Vineeta Rana, an LGBTQ member and a third-year student herself, concurred. She voted in favour of a Queer Pride Parade in DU, not unlike the one organised by IIT Delhi in the North Campus last October, only much larger in scale and more widely publicised. “The Delhi Pride Parade is held in November/December, and I have exams then, so it is difficult to attend,” she says, while opposing the fact that LGBTQ students are discriminated against in DU. On the other hand, I could not be so sure.

After having spoken to a number of students, some agreeing to the fact that DU is their safe haven (unlike the outside world) and others not, one thing emerges clearly. Whether or not they would like to openly scream out the truth about their sexuality from the rooftops, all of them are aware of their identity as a minority, owing to the covert discrimination in the eyes of the onlookers. ‘It’s all in the mind,’ as the proverb goes. And the only way to change minds is via active sensitization, something a mere notification on my phone screen cannot achieve.

Image credits: Indian Express

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

Jawahar Lal Nehru University’s (JNU) descent into what some would call the murky whirlpool of inglorious controversies, continues. In fact, it reached a new paradigm on Sunday, 23 July 2017, as the Vice Chancellor, M. Jagadesh Kumar, requested Union ministers General V.K. Singh and Dharmendra Pradhan to assist him in “procuring an army tank” to be positioned at a “prominent place” within the campus. Clearly, the first Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations to ever be held on the campus had by then deteriorated into an unfortunate display of jingoism. To add fuel to the fire, cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who was also one of the guests invited to the event, said: “Standing in JNU, it takes me back to when there was a lot of talk about freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is important, but there are certain things which are absolutely non-negotiable. One is the respect for the tricolour.” What should make your hair stand on its ends is that eerily enough, Gambhir’s remarks echo ex-President Pranab Mukherjee’s last speech, in which he reminds the citizens of the country to draw a line at some point while still exercising their right to freedom of speech. Incidentally, this is not the first time that the idea of a military tank has been proposed in the campus. It came once before too, right after the February 2016 incident when ‘anti-nationalistic’ slogans were allegedly raised. And there has never been a dearth of the overly vocal flag-bearers of xenophobia, ever since.

scroll-in-image

The event commenced with a well-intentioned Tiranga March. There could be sceptics who view this as a problematic notion. But there is, in theory, nothing wrong with it. It is meant to be an expression of one’s patriotism, which would be perfectly spontaneous under natural circumstances. Some of us, however, have been equipped with a university education in the armoury. This education teaches us the difference between ‘patriotism’ and ‘nationalism’. While one demands a genuine love for the country, the other beats its own trumpet in the name of language and culture. That education—knowing the ‘why’ and the ‘how’—is a major problem.

When an issue transcends the lives of one or two and begins to entangle one person too many into its folds, much like a spider quietly spinning a web, is it still justified to dismiss that issue as a mere controversy? Perhaps not, because what JNU symbolises at the moment is a fertile ground for seeds of all kinds of ideologies to be sown. Once sown, they will be forever embedded into impressionable, young minds. And whether you like it or not, as a university student in DU or JNU or any other campus, you do not really have the choice of non-alignment. That non-alignment is in itself an anomaly, a ‘misalignment’ if you will, should you choose to differ from the majority. You and I cannot remain apolitical. Whether you choose the Left, the Right or the Centre; be vociferous and active or secretive and mum; choose to go with the flow or against it—you have made a vital decision.

The point is should you be punished for making that choice? Whether or not a decommissioned military tank in the university campus manages to “instill nationalism,” it will have installed several disturbing questions in the minds of the students, as this event to goes down in the annals of history.

Image credits: Scroll.in

Deepannita Misra

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With the University of Delhi (DU) releasing its fifth cut off list on 17th July 2017, most of the colleges have shut down admissions, barring one or two courses. However, there is still a chance for students from the reserved categories to make it to some of the colleges. On the other hand, hope flares up again for the others, as seats are left vacant due to withdrawals at the last moment in certain courses. The verification of documents, for those seeking admission now, is to be done on 18th and 19th July as the new session commences from the 20th. But the race to grab those remaining seats is pacing on full throttle in the final phase of the admission season.

The Hindustan Times reports that 10% of the seats are yet to be filled, with a marginal dip in cut-offs. Even a popular course such Economics (Hons.), which is unavailable in Hans Raj or Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW), is being offered in Lakshmibai College with 3.5% dip in marks. After several withdrawals, seats are also available at Kirori Mal College (KMC) at a cut-off margin of 96.5%. For B.Com (Hons.), after Ramjas and Sri Venkateswara College (SVC) closed admissions, some seats are still up for grabs at popular girls’ colleges such as IPCW, Kamla Nehru College (KNC) and Gargi.

Aside from Commerce, popular courses of the Humanities are also on offer in colleges such as Hans Raj and Kalindi, which are now seeking candidates to fill up the vacant seats in their much sought-after English (Hons.) course. The cut-off for this course has dropped by 3.5% points. A similar drop is noted in the fifth list for History (Hons.) in KNC, where the cut-off has dropped to 4% points. The highest percentage requirement is at Lady Sri Ram (LSR) College though, which still maintains the margin at 96.25%. The admission for B.A. Programme is closed in most of the well-known colleges such as IPCW, Ramjas and Miranda. However, for Chemistry (Hons.), Gargi, Kalindi and Hans Raj still have spots vacant. Admissions for Mathematics (Hons.) have also reopened in KNC, IPCW and Gargi, post withdrawals.

For aspirants coming from reserved category backgrounds, Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) still offers seats in the much coveted Economics (Hons.) course for Scheduled Caste applicants. It asks for a score of 92.5% for SC candidates, and 86% for Persons with Disabilities. A low cut-off between 40-60% has been kept aside for Sanskrit (Hons.) by several colleges, including Mata Sundri which boasts of the lowest at 45%.

Popular colleges in both the North and the South campus have filled up the seats in most of their courses. Yet, with the fifth cut-off list being released, hopes have renewed for students wishing to make it to one of the prestigious colleges of their choice in DU. The admission season, which has not been without its fair share of hurdles and unforeseen circumstances right from day one, is in the final leg of its journey. And as the season ends, a new batch of eagerly freshers awaits the beginning of college life. But before that happens, there are a few seats still up for grabs as not all hope is lost for DU aspirants.

Image credits: DU Beat

 

Deepannita Misra

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On 11th July 2017, a Delhi High Court bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Najmi Waziri made an acute oral observation on the failure of the Indian education system as a whole, while hearing the Supreme Court plea initiated in September 2016, regarding Sushant Rohilla’s alleged suicide. On the matter, which was transferred to the Delhi HC in March 2017, the bench made a scathing remark: “It (the education system) is completely dehumanised. It is a machine. The human element has been completely taken out. The contact between teacher and student is perfunctory… We seem to be mass producing clones… You must conform at all costs, else retribution is swift.”

The bench also remarked directly upon Amity Law University’s “element of callousness” in handling the sensitive issue, as Rohilla was a third-year student there, barred from sitting in the semester examinations due to low attendance. “The student reached out to you. He cried out for help. But did you respond?” the court asked of the varsity, which continued to defend its attendance norms as a basic system of checks and balances meant to establish discipline. This system, however, is not above offering assistance to its students and accommodating improvements where necessary, Amity also claimed. The varsity is affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), which was given the  last chance to file an affidavit recording its stance on the subject.

Sushant Rohilla’s classmates took to social media with a fervour post his death, alleging his harassment and charging the teachers with apathy and negligence. So far, the outrage fuelled online has caused two of the professors to resign. Most significantly, it was a letter written by Raghav Sharma, another final year student of Amity and a close friend of Rohilla, to the then CJI TS Thakur, which caused this PIL to be instituted in court. In the letter, Sharma puts the blame squarely upon the shoulders of the Amity authorities, citing reasons including medical issues which first prevented Rohilla from attending the classes, leading to his lack of attendance, then a severe depression at being barred from the exams, and all of it culminating in a suicide by hanging, at his own house on 10th August 2016.

The court appointed amicus curiae has intervened after examining a “shocking” status report filed by the Delhi Police, which not only did not consider the examination of any person necessary with regard to the complaint but also insinuated that the suicide note may not have been written by Rohilla himself. Unconvinced, the court has asked for a transfer of the “compromised” investigation, to be monitored by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi). The DCP must now file a detailed probe report before the next hearing on 8th August 2017.

So far, all the elements in the case seem to be working against Amity and the varsity’s officials involved. But most importantly, the court’s statement takes into account what the current education system and inhumane red-tapism tend to leave out—the worth of a student’s life. It is an essential point raised, and one which directly concerns all students pursuing or hoping to pursue a higher education in the country. Minimum attendance as a pre-requisite for marks and entry to exam halls has been a matter of much discontent and protests in the last few years in the University of Delhi (DU) too, with ECA and Sports quota students especially crying foul. Those against the mandate argue about the injustice of having to sit in class, even when unable to, for reasons ranging from serious health issues to a simple lack of interest in certain lectures. University students, after all, are responsible adults in the making. Why must they be robbed of the autonomy to choose and to make the simple decision of which classes to attend, and which to skip out? Only time will tell what the verdict on Rohilla’s case shall be, yet the court has made a vital statement in the initial hearing itself, giving hopes to the entire student community.

Image credits: Hindustan Times

 

Deepannita Misra

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