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On 14th March 2014, University of Delhi conducted its 91st Annual Convocation for Conferment of Degrees. Candidates who emerged successful in examinations of 2013 were awarded in the Convention Hall of the Viceregal Lodge, University of Delhi. Among these degrees there were 499 doctoral degrees, 35 DM/MCh degrees and 162 medals to be conferred upon the successful students.

Lt. Governer of Delhi and Rector of Delhi University, Najeeb Jung was the Chief Guest at the event who also happens to be an alumnus of Delhi University. The Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Dinesh Singh welcomed the Chief Guest to be a part of ceremonial procession along with the Pro Vice Chancellors, Director of South Campus, Dean of Colleges, Treasurer, Registrar, Deans of all Faculties, Principals, Executive Council and Head of Departments of Delhi University.

“I do not know if these prizes mean what they should really mean to the young minds, therefore I am largely speaking to them. You must think how this recognition can be put to good use and what the real duty that descends upon you is. These medals are conferred upon you to encourage and keep working for a bright future of India”, said Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh to the 700 people who were present at the gathering.

The Lt. Governer Najeeb Jung said,” There is no greater pleasure than having the opportunity to speak to these young minds who have this enormous quantum of energy seemingly waiting to burst forth and contribute to various facets of life. This is the time for you to understand the value of internal and external peace, forthrightness and openness to accept viewpoint of others and an intrinsic belief in having an inclusive society which will only lead to peace in our country” at the annual convocation.

He quoted the verse from Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam translated into English in 1859 by Edward FitzGerald,

“Dreaming when Dawn’s Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
“Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life’s Liquor in its Cup be dry.”

He emphasised on the need to remain empowered and proud, to say, “I am the master of my fate and captain of my ship” while choosing from the unlimited number of choices that life offers to the young souls at present.

“I am happy to receive the award and all my family and friends are very happy at the award conferred upon me by the University”, said Neha Lal, a BA(Honours) Journalism student from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) who won the University Medal for securing the highest marks in her course at Delhi University.

Delhi University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dinesh Singh will be conferred with an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh this summer in a special ceremony. The news was confirmed by Prof. Timothy O’Shea, who is the Vice-Chancellor of University of Edinburgh.

He is being given this doctorate in order to felicitate, ‘his inspirational leadership of University of Delhi’. The two universities share an active partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding which has in the past facilitated many joint research projects as well as students exchange programmes. They have also come together with training programmes for teachers such as D-LITE.

Mixed reaction have come in after the news broke. “Does he really deserve an honorary doctorate after the alleged introduction of FYUP which has been criticised all over?”, said Rhea*, a student pursuing honours degree from DU. Though some have favoured the Professor, “He is an academician first and has taken up several initiatives to promote education”, said Simran* who is currently pursuing Geography Honours from Miranda House.

Prof. Dinesh Singh, who was the center of controversy last year for the introduction of Four Year Undergraduate Programme was also bestowed with Padma Shri by the Government of India earlier this year. He will also be receiving the Honorary Doctorate of Science by National University of Ireland Cork on June 6, 2014.

*Names have been changed on request of anonymity

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Delhi University Teacher’s Association held its annual meeting on the 31st January outside the VC’s office to make new resolutions and amendments and protest against the VC who has just been honoured with Padma Shri award for ‘his excellent work. The meeting, although arranged on a working day, saw a considerable footfall of around hundred teachers – all strived to bring a change in the functioning of the university.

The meeting got delayed by one hour because of lack of proper arrangement for the same. Apparently the VC did not allow mikes and chairs inside the gate of the office area, there were just some sheets spread on the concrete floor for teachers to sit so they had to take their meeting outside the gate and hire chairs and mike on their own. “This was supposed to be just an annual meeting which every association has. Every university has this type of meetings which takes place inside an auditorium or a closed space but the VC won’t even allow us a room where we can sit and discuss!” says one of the teacher present there. “He has given instruction to principals of all colleges to refuse us a place to hold this meeting. This is nothing but dictatorship! And this man got a Padma Shri!” adds another. The teachers agreed unanimously that by awarding the VC a Padma Shri, the government that talks of democracy, has given an open support to dictatorship.

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The meeting was interrupted for a while by a group of teachers who took out a protest march in the same area to make the process of recruitment of ad-hoc teachers fair. There were around a fifty security personnel on guard on the orders of the VC who were instructed to rush in in case any violence took place. Apart from few angry exchanges the meeting took place peacefully. Issues like Padma Shri award to the VC, his arbitrary actions like removal of chairs and other facilities to the security guard and closure of Panditji’s tea stall which has been there for generations, delay and denial of promotions to teachers who went against him, hasty implementation of FYUP, suspension of teachers and misuse of Antardhvani were some of the issues which were dealt with in the meeting.

DUTA also invoked the students to join them in their struggle against the FYUP by citing how bad it is for their future.

Professor Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor of Delhi University has been honoured with the Padma Shri award this year. Padma Shri is awarded to Indian civilians for distinguished service in any field. The fourth highest civilian award in India was conferred upon 101 people including some popular names like Yuvraj Singh, Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal.

Professor Dinesh Singh earned his undergraduate and postgraduate degree in mathematics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. After earning an M.Phil degree from DU, he went on pursue a Ph.D degree at Imperial College, London. Following that, he taught at the Department of Mathematics in St. Stephen’s College.  He was appointed the Director of University of Delhi South Campus in 2005 and the Vice Chancellor of the University in October 29th, 2010.

Dinesh Singh has been responsible for the implementation of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) last year in Delhi University. He also led the shift to the semester system and introduction of Antardhvani – the annual cultural fest of DU and the Cluster Innovation Centre.

This year’s nominations for Padma awards were shortlisted by UPA government and approved by the President. The awards were presented on 26th January by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to the 127 Padma awardees this year.

Image Credit: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

dinesh singhRespected Mr. Dinesh Singh,

This letter is to congratulate you on your relentless pursuits to making Delhi University a world class university. I am fully aware that due to the “hurried” changes in the degree program, you have received more brickbats than bouquets, but this letter is an exception.

It has been around three years that you’ve been elected the VC of the best university in India. In your interviews you’ve maintained that the preparations for implementing the four year undergraduate programme (FYUP) started as soon as you held office. Even then you made the smart decision to implement the semester system, just to replace it with FYUP after two years. Your uncanny future planning is admirable, sir.

You’ve claimed rather vehemently that FYUP is going to increase the employability of students. I fully trust you when you imply that by studying non-core subjects more than core subjects in the span of 4 years, a pass out will be the preferred choice. I also believe you that by giving multiple exit points and still “benefiting” from the studies, a drop out with a B.A degree will get a job without really specializing in his 2/3 years of study.

Sir, I appreciate your concern for the students who wish to study in U.S.A after completing their graduation in India. Your decision to make structural changes (increasing the span from 3 years to 4 years to suit the USA model) rather than focusing on the quality of the structure (the quality of core disciplines, lessening the burden of non-core subjects) is admirable. Because you see, spending a year extra without learning extra is the goal, USA and all.

I understand you value quality education, that’s what FYUP is all about after all, isn’t it? Therefore I applaud your decision of making students study the disciplines that are in no way related to the field they want to major in. The fact that you’re making an English major aspirant from humanities background study biochemistry perfectly makes sense. Because the value of science foundation courses is so important in literature after all, that it would have been better to delete a Shakespeare text and replace it with physics.  Also, since not everyone has studied biochemistry at the high school level, college level bio-chemistry is going to be pretty much same to high school bio chemistry, so that everyone is able to study, thereby not taking college level studies a notch up. I perfectly see where you’re taking quality education with this.

You, respected sir have created an ideal university, where professors keep shouting and administrators turn a blind eye. Where students aren’t able to learn and nobody listens. Where cut offs keep rising and quality education keeps going downwards.

Congratulations sir. My heartiest wishes to you in your endeavour to achieve life, liberty and happiness, and perpetual deafness.

Yours sincerely
A student who being in second year is facing the misfortune of not studying in FYUP.

Image Credit: South Campus website

It is with dismay, as a teacher, that I wish to bring to public notice an unthinkable and unfortunate incident that took place in my college, Shri Ram College of Commerce on 6th April. I am doing so for I believe that the incident is symptomatic of the wider, systematic decline in academic culture of the University of Delhi that I have been witnessing over the past few years.

As part of an academic Conference on the subject “Transformational Leadership”, Prof. Dinesh Singh, the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University was to address students and teachers in the college auditorium at 10.00 am. I stood up, before the Vice-Chancellor started his address and had politely and barely uttered “May I take a minute”, when bouncers accompanying Prof. Singh rushed towards me and from the centre of the auditorium kept violently pushing me even though I offered no resistance; this carried on till they made sure that I was out of the auditorium.

The auditorium was full of students as classes started at 8.40 am, student volunteers were sent by organisers to each class room to announce that all teachers and students “have” to be present in the auditorium. This directive itself was unprecedented and undesirable. Many seminars and conferences are held in the college and it is left to students and teachers to voluntarily participate in those events depending on their inclinations and how they value their participation. Even a hint of coercion where the role of students and teachers is reduced to being listeners and applauders is destructive of independent and critical thinking and of the development of socially concerned individuals who will have the sensitivity and courage to stand for what they believe is right. And when it happens in the name of an “academic” event, the event is anything but academic. Many seminars and conferences are held but never had we forced anyone to attend any particular ones. However much I do not wish to say it, it did not escape anyone that such an unwelcome exercise was because the speaker in question occupies an important post and has the powers to favour or disfavour.

On 3 April 2013, Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju was our chief guest for the Annual Day. He walked in and walked out, with the Principal, teachers and alumni, the same auditorium with no security guards. Recently, when Shri Narendra Modi visited the college, his security guards did not enter the lecture venue. In another worrying first, an academic head of our own University was accompanied by bouncers. I have also learnt that before the event began teachers were asked not to occupy the first row since it had been decided that persons accompanying the VC to this academic event and interaction would be seated in the first row.

Further, to the best my knowledge, in any academic event if someone wishes time for raising any issue or express an opinion, normally they are allowed brief intervention. Sometimes, depending on the person occupying the chair, interventions from the floor are allowed while at others, the chair disallows the intervention. Physical manhandling and contact is alien to any healthy academic institution. I was not raising slogans, my voice was soft and polite and I was only seeking permission.

Of the many issues and manner in which the university administration conducting itself, I wished to bring to his notice only one – that only recently on 25th March 2013 one official under him, he being the chief academic and executive officer of the University, had directed colleges to suspend classes on 26 March 2013 in view of possible Holi-eve hooliganism and at the same time directed teachers to mark their presence. Teachers who had non-teaching assignments that day such as organisation of co-curricualr and extra-curricular activities or some assigned administrative duty were anyway supposed to come. To direct teachers to be present without having anything to do and when most colleges have no individual rooms for academic pursuit can only stem from a view which does not visualise teachers as academic workers / intellectuals who should be devoting their time to academic pursuits but as time-bound employees who earn their salary by spending time waiting for orders. Such redefining of teachers’ role carries with itself many undesirable transformations of work culture in an academic institution. Such “small” things, if repeated without critically examining all ramifications, can adversely affect motivation without which no teaching-learning, let alone quality teaching-learning, can take place. Demotivating and humiliating teachers may in the long-term produce a culture that is unthinkable today. Beyond assigned class and contact hours, it may become “normal” not to attend to or interact with students on their queries, doubts and aspirations.

This incident, to me, as a teacher, who has been the profession for over 30 years, is less an occasion for hurt or anger and more one of anguish and pessimism about the future unless such conduct is reviewed and not repeated.

In fact, one has been a hapless witness to the process of academic debate and interaction in the University where the administration speaks only to those who they pick, where meetings and Congresses are reduced to “chosen” audience addressed by “chosen” speakers. Views and counter-views are not allowed to be expressed, let alone debated, before academic decisions are taken. Counter-views, differing opinions and dissent gradually perforce can only be expressed only as protest actions, on streets.

I sincerely hope that we do not come to such a pass. Denial of democracy in academics, academic interaction and academic decision-making undermines excellence and independent thinking, and would lead to disastrous actions such as the hasty introduction of the four-year undergraduate degree course, without the due debate, scrutiny and preparation which should precede any such drastic change, seems to suggest.

-Sanjaya Kumar Bohidar
Associate Professor
Shri Ram College of Commerce
<[email protected]>

Views expressed by the writer are personal. 

Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system. Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor haihai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar. The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly. Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later. VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed. However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”. Image source: The Hindu Sakshi Gupta [email protected]]]>

Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system.

Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy

Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor haihai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar.

The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly.

Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later.

VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed.

However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”.

Image source: The Hindu

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected]