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Yash Singh

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Anti-Semester Movement Sees Renewed Effort
The Faculty of Arts approved the semester system in 11 departments even as the English and the
Germanic and Romance Studies departments asked for more time to prepare their new syllabi.
The hurried manner of the approval has left teachers and professors sour. “There was no scope of
discussion in the meeting of the Faculty of Arts and everything was passed in just little over an
hour,” said Shaswati Mazumdar, from the Germanic and Romance Studies department.
Lecturers (part of Joint Action Body-JAB) from Hansraj College, Ramjas College, SGTB
Khalsa, Ramjas College and St. Stephens have held classes in the garden next to the Vice-
Regal Lodge to oppose the new system. A signature campaign for the same purpose has also
been launched. The main reason for the dissent remains the same-the teachers’ views about the
semester system are being either ignored or diplomatically sidestepped by Mr. Singh.
Teachers are roping in students, alumnae and parents of prospective students, to add momentum
to their protests. Despite the High Court order giving the new system the green light last
November, most teachers insist that the semester system has done no good where introduced
and extending it to the remaining courses will only lower academic standards. During the
general body meeting of the Departments of Economics, English and Philosophy, teachers felt
that course content is being diluted to accommodate the new system and conducting exams bi-
annually will not be feasible.
JAB met the president of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Mr. Puniya, and
apprised him of the adverse effects the system will have on quota students. “Introduction of the
OBC quota is problematic in view of the semester system as teachers will not get enough time to
help the weaker students,” Mrs. Shefali of Khalsa College said.
In the footsteps of their North Campus counterparts, Kamla Nehru and Venkateswara College
saw localized protests against the semester system. LSR did not have an all-out strike, although a
protest was carried out.
DU’s attempt to implement a no-work-no-pay policy in at least 12 of its colleges faced stiff
resistance for the first time last Wednesday. A demonstration held by the teachers of Maharaja
Agrasen College against the cut turned ugly after the principal was manhandled by the teachers.
Meanwhile, a division bench of the Delhi High Court directed teachers of Kalindi College to call
off their strike and reprimanded Delhi University for not taking swift action against the teachers
on strike since September last year. The order came in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation
(PIL) filed by Ramit Garg, alleging that various teachers went on strike seeking action against
Karishma Vaid, students’ union president after Vaid and her mother lodged a criminal complaint
against Meena Anand, one of the teachers.
Students are still divided on the new system -some are indifferent, while others strongly oppose
the idea. There seems no sign of an end to this impasse as students busy themselves with end-of-
session rituals.
Yash Singh

The Faculty of Arts approved the semester system in 11 departments even as the English and the Germanic and Romance Studies departments asked for more time to prepare their new syllabi. The hurried manner of the approval has left teachers and professors sour. “There was no scope of discussion in the meeting of the Faculty of Arts and everything was passed in just little over an hour,” said Shaswati Mazumdar, from the Germanic and Romance Studies department.

Lecturers (part of Joint Action Body-JAB) from Hansraj College, Ramjas College, SGTB Khalsa, Ramjas College and St. Stephens have held classes in the garden next to the Vice- Regal Lodge to oppose the new system. A signature campaign for the same purpose has also been launched. The main reason for the dissent remains the same-the teachers’ views about the semester system are being either ignored or diplomatically sidestepped by Mr. Singh.

Teachers are roping in students, alumnae and parents of prospective students, to add momentum to their protests. Despite the High Court order giving the new system the green light last November, most teachers insist that the semester system has done no good where introduced and extending it to the remaining courses will only lower academic standards. During the general body meeting of the Departments of Economics, English and Philosophy, teachers felt that course content is being diluted to accommodate the new system and conducting exams bi-annually will not be feasible.

JAB met the president of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Mr. Puniya, and apprised him of the adverse effects the system will have on quota students. “Introduction of the OBC quota is problematic in view of the semester system as teachers will not get enough time to help the weaker students,” Mrs. Shefali of Khalsa College said.

In the footsteps of their North Campus counterparts, Kamla Nehru and Venkateswara College saw localized protests against the semester system. LSR did not have an all-out strike, although a protest was carried out.

DU’s attempt to implement a no-work-no-pay policy in at least 12 of its colleges faced stiff resistance for the first time last Wednesday. A demonstration held by the teachers of Maharaja Agrasen College against the cut turned ugly after the principal was manhandled by the teachers.

Meanwhile, a division bench of the Delhi High Court directed teachers of Kalindi College to call off their strike and reprimanded Delhi University for not taking swift action against the teachers on strike since September last year. The order came in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ramit Garg, alleging that various teachers went on strike seeking action against Karishma Vaid, students’ union president after Vaid and her mother lodged a criminal complaint against Meena Anand, one of the teachers.

Students are still divided on the new system -some are indifferent, while others strongly opposethe idea. There seems no sign of an end to this impasse as students busy themselves with end-of-session rituals.

Yash Singh

[email protected]

There are only around two months left before the opening ceremony. Yes, two months, and many of the venues are awaiting completion. What’s worse, students have been paying the price for the overhauling of the city
The construction around Delhi has caused various hazards for students. The main arteries of north campus are mostly dug up, eating up the already modest pavements, leaving you to fend for yourself in the middle of traffic. Colleges in and around CP have been suffering from such problems too.
If that was not enough, almost all north campus college grounds have been seized since last session for renovation. Sportingly-inclined students have to make do with the indoor facilities and basketball courts (used for impromptu cricket sessions or 5-a-side football). Add to this the increase in time spend getting to/back from college. The dug-up roads have added 10 minutes to an hour, based on whether its peak hours or not. U-specials have become even less punctual (but they’ve always been moody).
Room rentals have hiked in PGs where the athletes will be staying because the committee decided to jazz-up these accommodations. Rebecca George of JMC feels that the increased rates are forced on them. “We didn’t ask them to upgrade our PG. They don’t care if we can’t afford the new rent.”
It’s not just rude weather that’s plaguing Delhi’s efforts to get ready in time for its gold-medal moment, come October. There are a few eye-catching changes, especially the refurbished Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, whose interiors might make you go “wow…” Sadly, many top athletes have decided to skip the games and Queen Elizabeth II won’t be gracing Delhi either, citing a ‘busy social calendar’ as her reason. Given the new concerns over safety, Delhi’s other invited guests may soon be sending regrets as well. Watch this space.

After the long, drawn out summer, the new session began with colleges ensuring newcomers don’t have any unpleasant experiences with their seniors. Delhi University has taken a host of anti-ragging measures like deploying flying squads, women police officers, CCTVs, installing complaint boxes and ragging helplines among others. The first few days saw jeeps full of serious policemen/women patrolling around colleges to keep an eye on the activities in and around campus.
The HRD ministry has also shown support to help tackle ragging. Freshmen looking for help can call 1800-180-5522 or e-mail at [email protected].
About 54,000 students have joined DU this year. Proctor of DU, Professor Gurmeet Singh, has personally written to college principals to check ragging. To the university’s credit, no serious ragging has been reported yet, and colleges are taking all steps possible to keep a tab on the students’ behaviour.
However, this did not deter some colleges from making their freshers feel welcome and they did not mind playing by the rules. Miranda house gave its freshers a traditional welcome. This also attracted attention from other colleges and consequently led to quite a crowd at its gates.
“A senior asked me to climb up the tree and sing ‘Vande Mataram.”, recalls Joe Hercher from his first year in Khalsa College. This is one of the various examples of ragging which took place in the university till some time ago. However, the number of such cases has drastically come down since the new laws came into effect.
It is a matter of debate whether this decline in ragging is received by the freshers with relief since a fraction of new students have protested against the ban altogether. However, the new session has largely set off with a promising and incident-free start.