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DU allocated additional funds for EWS quota

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With the introduction of reservation for ‘Economically Weaker Sections’ (EWS), the intake of students this year has increased. To manage this, the University Grants Commission has made an additional fund allocation of about Rs. 191 crores to the university and its colleges. This allocation has been made for the academic session of 2019-20 and 2020-21.

According to the letter, the funds allocated by UGC amounts to that of Rs. 143.76 crore. These funds cover ‘capital’, ‘salary’ and ‘recurring’ heads. The ‘capital’ has got the highest allocation of Rs. 120 crores whereas Rs. 47.24 crore has been allocated to the college under the salary and recurring heads.

The letter also stated that the additional funds granted under the capital head are to be sought from the Higher Education Financial Agency (HEFA).

Under this new scheme, Delhi University will have to pay 10% of the principal amount, while 90% is payable by the government.

However, this raises various concerns amongst the faculty over the EWS and funding issue as Rajib Ray, the President of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association, was quoted by The Hindu, “Till posts are sanctioned, imposition of EWS quota will cause displacement and the nature of appointment of additional teachers will be a matter of dispute.” This comes as a response to a direction given to DU to submit its proposal for the creation of posts as per requirement within the allocated funds. However, these funds were considered to be insufficient for this process. He also wanted the formation of a standing committee to look into how the grant would be divided.

Rajib Ray also says, “A Rs 120 crore loan entitlement from HEFA has been offered to the university for the building its own additional infrastructure and sharing the loan amount with colleges for theirs. So, the EWS reservation has been used to tie everyone to loan-based funding. What we are demanding is that the government should release grants for expansion, not loans. Students can’t be charged high fees to implement this expansion.”

He further elaborates that under the salary head, the university gets Rs 6.85 crore and colleges get Rs. 42.25 crore. The salaries include salary for additional teachers and non-teaching staff but additional posts have not yet been sanctioned as reported by Newsclick.

With the introduction of the EWS quota, the number of students will increase to that of 60,000 approximately. However, limited infrastructure, staff recruitment, and funds were major concerns felt by faculty across the university.

 Featured Image Credits- UGC

Antriksha Pathania
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Campus Central

Editorial: Delhi University, It Is Time to Pull Up Your Socks

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To stay relevant in the 21st century – the University of Delhi (DU) needs to let go of its laissez-faire attitude. Read our Editor’s take on why DU is trapped in its own history.

Making it into DU was a dream for so many of us. We battled the unpredictable and exhausting board examinations, obsessed over  cut-off lists, and withstood the impossibly frustrating admission process to finally make it here. Once here, all the effort seemed worth it. To study with the brightest people in our generation, participate in DU’s competitive society culture, absorb its active protest culture, and learn under its brilliant faculty, made it a one of a kind experience. This, coupled with a relatively relaxed attendance policy and reasonable fee, was enough to make this place a dream come true.

However, three years in the University and my rose-coloured glasses have finally worn off. What I saw as the culture of protest is actually teachers and students demanding basic resources and rights. What was seen as thriving society culture is the students’ way to keep themselves occupied and challenged since the varsity offers few opportunities to do so. The affordability of DU is constantly at threat, with newly established schools like Delhi School of Journalism charging a hefty fee and offering sub par education in return. With the Higher Education Funding Agency and the current government’s obsession with privatisation, DU’s accessibility is historically most vulnerable right now.

However, this is not all. The bigger problems with DU are related to its academic rigour. The truth is, towards the end of our three years, there is very little that the institution has taught us.

This facade of DU’s reputation has limited influence; recruiters and major corporations are distinctly aware of how little a DU degree teaches you, which is perhaps why they avoid us like the plague. Navigating the process of landing your first job on your own is chaotic and most people seek the security of campus placements. However, in DU, the word ‘placement’ is reserved for commerce students from the five top – ranked colleges in the varsity. It’s not as if commerce students or those in top colleges are necessarily more skilled than the rest of us but selective elitism goes a long way. The rest, pursuing other “non-employable” degrees in the remaining colleges, cannot aspire to be recruited in any capacity.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to DU for the exposure and experiences but they were by and large the product of the hard work of the students who made societies their life and gave them their competitive edge. Apart from its reputation, there is very little that DU offers us. My resentment stems from the fact that I, like my peers, am horribly under-prepared for the real world. It is responsible to revive the curriculum to make it competitive with other universities, and it is their responsibility to realise that their job does not end by offering students mere theoretical knowledge.

Sports facilities in DU are underwhelming and most sports’ quota students find their own way of training themselves independently. Certainly, there is a funding crisis that the varsity is experiencing and the threat of a bigger impending crisis looms above the surface, but even existing funds aren’t appropriately utilised. For example, in 2017, the varsity returned 108 crores to the University Grants Commission (UGC) because it could not find an avenue to spend it. Three crore rupees allocated by the UGC remained under-utilised and had to be returned as well.

As I reflect upon my three years in DU, I am grateful for the creative minds I got the opportunity to interact with. However, nostalgia has not clouded my judgment and I know that there was so much more that DU could have offered and so much more that I deserved. The only people who graduate from DU and make it in life should not be B.Com. students, IAS officers, rich kids whose resources get them into an Ivy – league college for Master’s or those studying in Hindu, Lady Shri Ram, Stephen’s, and Hansraj. The rest of us also deserve access to an education that teaches us the required skills, has a curriculum abreast with top international universities, and offers us the opportunity that allows us to get employed if we wish to be. Like an egocentric, ageing actor who cannot get over their glory days, DU is iconic but stuck in the past. It needs to catch up with the times and enter the 21st century. After all, reputations alone can only last so long.  

Kinjal Pandey
[email protected]

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Campus Central

UGC Opens Online Portal for Colleges Seeking Autonomy; Fees May See a Significant Hike

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The UGC has issued a letter and made its online portal active allowing colleges to apply for autonomous status. Autonomy will enable these colleges to design their own courses, fee structure and manage admissions and results independently.
Encouraging the colleges to apply for autonomous status, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had rolled out guidelines in 2016. Following which the University of Delhi pushed its colleges for the same.
Going a step ahead in the same direction, UGC has now issued a letter informing the colleges that they can now apply for autonomy through its online portal.
To give a boost to colleges seeking autonomy, UGC has made its portal active on its official website. The application form for the same has also been issued on the website.
Autonomous status will provide colleges the freedom to pull away from the rules and guidelines of the University and exercise its choice in forming its own course structure, fee structure, academic staff and admissions among others. It will also become a separate entity with regards to results and marksheets too.
Terming this move towards privatization as “disastrous”, the teachers and students had expressed their distress through strikes and rallies over the last year. This move will affect the students willing to apply for various colleges under the University.
Media reports suggest that this will also lead to lack of fund support from the University to the colleges and a significant hike in fees of the students will also be observed.

Feature Image Credits: UGC
Shreya Agrawal
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Bazinga

Bazinga: Professors required to dress up this Halloween

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This Halloween, the University of Delhi is geared up to offer its students something unprecedented. The viability of the plan, however, has been put to question.

 

On October 28, 2018, the United Grants Commission (UGC) issued a statement, making it mandatory for all professors to dress up on Halloween. The statement specifies that all professors should come to their classes in the guise of a superhero, literary character, or cartoon.

 

A student from Dyal Singh College, on the condition of anonymity shared his excitement with us, over the last category, “I am all charged up to see how well my professors live up to their caricatures drawn on the last page of my notes!”

 

While many students are celebrating the statement, the enforcement of the order is ambiguous in the academic circles of the staff rooms of various colleges. A professor from Ramjas College wrote a letter to the authorities—in no uncertain terms— that this was “a rudely disrespectful compliance expected out of all of us (professors).”

 

In the letter, the professor goes on to say, “We should have the freedom to choose our clothes, at least! Our options are already so limited.”

 

Some might argue that the conscious choice of clothes of their professors are nightmarish enough; to begin with, that is. Put into question, the authorities issued a public statement on 29 October that claims, “This practice will heighten the sense of connectivity between the professors and their students. The idea is to instil friendship into the equation.” As innocent as the intention is, the results just might be surprising for the authorities to observe.

 

But there are others who claim something good comes from this decision too. “Seeing as how Diwali is only a week from Halloween, we could take this as a step towards being more inclusive. The students will have a lot to learn,” said Ramprasad Guru, a Festival Analyst who works as a freelance. But it is easy to say that the professors do not agree as they have unanimously agreed to protest on Thursday outside Arts Faculty in North Campus.

 

In the diametric expectations of the students and professors, the tension increases for the latter. As the students want their professors to come to their 8:30 class as Dolores Umbridge and explode into cheers and jeers immediately, and as the professors are resolute on escaping this humiliation, one significant element hangs in the balance – education.

 

College administrations are perplexed over the idea of loss of time of students due to the fiasco. The time that they could otherwise spent waiting in lines to get permissions for organising events in their respective colleges. Arguably, it is good to see that the administration department is not vexed by the decision directly. But then, it is hard to impress an innovative idea on them.

 

It remains to be seen what awaits the fate of a thousands of professors this Halloween. But whether classes are cancelled or the students actually see a Khaleesi marking the stupefied students’ attendance, it is a victory for the dedicated college goers of Delhi University.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only meant to be appreciated and not accepted.

Feature Image Credits: Scroll

Kartik Chauhan

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

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Campus Central

Delhi University Gears Up For NAAC Visit

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Delhi university forms mock teams and sends a questionnaire to various departments ahead of their NAAC visit.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will be visiting various departments of Delhi University between 29th to 31st October. The grading provided by this body is particularly important for the allotment of funds and grants to the varsity by University Grant Commission (UGC). It has lead to the University’s mock teams conducting checks and visits to various departments and faculties and ensuring they if they have been properly prepared for the visit. The administrations of various colleges and heads of departments were recently mailed with a questionnaire of 103 questions in this regard.

Questions such as does the DU department celebrate national festivals or observe the birth and death anniversaries of great Indian personalities? Is there a policy in place to check plagiarism? Are there committees in place to check student-related issues? Formed an integral part of the questionnaire. Student-centric issues such as complaints of sexual harassment, gender sensitisation, the safety of northeastern students, and steps to check ragging and hooliganism have to be taken into account. The questionnaire aimed to evaluate whether there was student participation in committees. They also took into account alumni associations in the department and whether they were constituted through fair and transparent periodic elections and their functions.

Questions regarding gender sensitivity as well as safety and counselling have also been included as important parameters. Another category which has been given great focus is the green practices in place, including paperless offices, have also been mentioned in the questionnaire. Apart from education-related facilities, the administration also wanted to know whether the college has held recreational activities, fresh parties and farewell for students, a professor further added.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Bhavika Behal
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News

Sale of Junk Food Banned in All Universities by UGC

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all varsities and higher education institutions to ban sale of junk food in their campuses.

On Wednesday, 23rd August 2018, the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a notice all the Vice Chancellors of the universities under it to ban junk food in their premises. The letter states, “Banning junk food in colleges would set new standards for healthy food and make the students live better, and learn better and also reduce the obesity levels in young learners, thus preventing lifestyle diseases which have a direct link with excessive weight”.

According to the Press Trust of India, UGC secretary Jaspal S. Sandhu said that the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry wanted to issue instructions against availability and sale of junk food in Higher Educational Institutions. This is done to ensure strict adherence to the advisory issued in November 2016 for banning junk food in colleges. “You are requested to ensure strict adherence to the advisory. Create awareness among the younger generation who are vulnerable,” the circular read.

DU Beat contacted a few students and teachers regarding the same. Aryan Pandla, a student from Delhi School of Journalism says, “Eating junk food is not unhealthy. But the excess of it creates issues like obesity. A ban should not have been imposed by the UGC but instead a regulatory measure should have been taken. UGC should promote healthy food like daal-chawal, but banning on junk food is not the solution. The students will still have access to junk food because of prevalence of small food outlets near the college.” Ms.Nazish Khan, a professor in Bharti College says, “It’s a welcome move by the UGC and should have been implemented long ago. However, it’s never too late. There might be some problems with the execution but nonetheless, it will bring a healthy living.”

A same move was made by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) two years ago. It had asked all its affiliated schools to ensure that food items like chips, carbonated drinks, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers and confectionery items like chocolates, candies are not available in the school canteens. Schools were also asked to inspect lunch boxes of students, create awareness about nutritious food and regularly monitor students’ health. The circular was released following a report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar and promotion of healthy snacks in schools.

Further, the board also advised all schools affiliated to it to try that no such food items are available around 200 meters of the school premises.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Anoushka Sharma

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News

Government Plans to Scrap UGC and Set Up Higher Education Commission

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In an attempt to reform higher education, the central Government today announced a complete overhaul of the apex higher education regulator- University Grants Commission (UGC), repeal of the UGC Act, 1951 to adopt a fresh legislation to set up the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The new Higher Education Commission of India is meant to focus only on the academic part of the universities. Finances would be under the direct jurisdiction of the ministry, according to the draft. 

The HECI Act, 2018 is expected to be pitched in the Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session. The Ministry of Human Resource Development will be uploading the draft of the act on its website to be vetted by the public and for inviting feedback. 

Dr.Rajib Ray, the President of Delhi University Teachers’ Association was very  critical about the overhaul of the UGC and told DU Beat that, “It is very unclear that how this step will address the need of higher education in a better way.” He informed DU Beat that DUTA will be holding a meeting on 3rd July to deliberate further on the draft. He raised his concerns over the absence of representation of SC/ST/OBC/PwD/women in the twelve membered commission.

Dr. Nandita Narain of DUTA in a conversation with DU Beat correspondent alleged that the aim of overhauling UGC is an attempt to corporatise education sector.

In a conversation with DU Beat, Mr. Saket Bahuguna, the media convener of ABVP said that “This draft aims to bring reforms in the field of higher education. The ABVP will discuss the draft and propose the recommendations to the MHRD, once it is out for public feedback”

Educationists, stakeholders, and others can furnish their comments and suggestions by July 7, 2018, until 5 pm.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express.

Sandeep Samal

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Campus Central

DUTA Hosts Press Conference Against Reservation Roster, ABVP Requests For Evaluation with Roses

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The conference registered the presence of a string of politicians and speakers from CPI-M, AAP, RJD and Congress party, each unequivocally calling out the UGC roster for its “unconstitutional nature”.

The Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) today held a press conference at the Press Club of India, Raisina Road. The occasion saw DUTA gain the support of the major political parties in its on-going movement against the 5th March University Grants Commission  (UGC) roster which potentially curtails the reservation in the appointment of teachers.

Rajib Ray, President of DUTA, began the conference by highlighting the implications of the 5th March 2018 UGC notification regarding Reservation Roster for SC, ST, OBC category in teaching posts in universities and colleges across the nation, which directs institutions to make the roster treating a Department as a unit in place of the UGC guidelines of 2006 which considered College/University as a unit. He further spoke over how the latest provision could only lead to delays in fulfillment of required seats, hence pushing a large number of teachers from the SC, ST, and OBC background out from university spaces and putting the future of ad-hoc teachers at jeopardy.

Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat
Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Among the political figures present were Sitaram Yechury, secretary general of the Communist Party of India, Manoj Jha, Member of Parliament, RJD, Amarjeet Kaur, Udit Raj, and Dev Rajan. The politicians of all the parties overtly blamed the government for systematically scaling down the constitutional values in the academic administration and called for the roster development to be seen in the backdrop of a larger national narrative. They also asked the government to restore the status quo till the Supreme Court comes with a decision over the Special Leave Petition ( SLP).

In addition to these major actors, sources later claimed that DUTA resistance has also found support from Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and, interestingly, Anusuchit Jaati Morcha of BJP.

However, questions regarding the evaluation boycott were strategically dodged, keeping the final year students and their higher education application prospects at loss. On being asked about the same, a Professor/Member of DUTA told our correspondent, “ The ball is in the government’s court. Rather than questioning the morality of the teachers, the government and the association should engage in a positive dialogue and resolve the deadlock, for everyone’s sake.”

Interestingly members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a peaceful sit-in and handed out roses to the teachers, requesting them to begin the evaluation.

 

Feature Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Nikhil Kumar
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Campus Central

DUTA Organises Jansampark Programme, Draws a Huge Crowd

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On 6th June 2018, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) organised the ‘Jansampark’ programme, informing citizens and making them aware of the problems that DU teachers face, with government paying no attention to their demands.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) on Wednesday organised the ‘Jansampark’ programme, with teachers and students participating in large numbers outside five metro stations namely Vishwavidyalaya, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, ITO, and Central Secretariat.

“This Action Programme was organised to create awareness among the general public about massive problems that teachers of Delhi University were grappling with and finding no solutions to their miseries, teachers had to go on evaluation boycott,” said DUTA in a press release.

People were informed by the teachers and student activists about the sufferings that an average teacher has to undergo on a daily basis. More than 4000 teaching posts are lying vacant in the University of Delhi (DU). Despite the high court order directing the colleges to fill all teaching posts, the University has failed to do so.  The UGC letter dated 5th May 2018 directed the University to change the teaching roster to department-wise and if the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) does not withdraw the letter, the 4000 ad-hoc teachers teaching against these vacant positions are at a risk of being displaced in the beginning of next semester in July.

For the past ten years, teachers have been denied promotions. This has led to a sense of disillusionment amongst young teachers. The retired teachers of the Varsity and karamcharis are being denied pensions. The government is coming up with plans to privatise the higher education institutions through autonomous colleges and graded autonomy. General public was educated about how privatisation will make public education out of the reach of poor people, harming the interest of underprivileged, minorities, and female students.

On 28 March, 2018 Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and the Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) organised the “March for Education” from Mandi House to Parliament Street in the national capital against the granting of graded autonomy to 60 universities which would lead to commercialisation and blatant privatisation of public education.

On 9 May 2018 DUTA announced its decision to boycott evaluation of answer sheets in protest against delay in teachers’ appointment and promotion, lack of absorption of ad-hoc teachers, autonomous college scheme and the change in roster policy.

The Jansampark programme had a good reception from the people of Delhi who asked them to intensify their struggle until their demands are met.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives
Disha Saxena

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Campus Central

UGC Meeting on Autonomy Dropped Over DUTA Protest

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On 24 May, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held a protest outside University Grants Commission (UGC) office against the meeting to decide autonomy for St. Stephen’s College and Hindu College. Owing to the protests, UGC dropped the meeting altogether.

DUTA issues press release

“Senior UGC Officials informed the DUTA President today morning that the item on granting autonomy to St. Stephen’s and Hindu College has been dropped from the agenda of the meeting”, DUTA issued in its press release. It added, that “this deferral is, however, no guarantee against the Government’s plan to privatise its premier public-funded higher educational institutions.” Yet, DUTA breathes a sigh of relief with this victory. 

DUTA re-affirmed its emphasis on the varsity’s founding act and the autonomy ascribed in it. It further asserted the unwanted result of “forcing [UGC’s] its new autonomy schemes”; commercialising education and making it exclusionary.

Demands raised by DUTA

Primarily, DUTA demands that autonomy is not forced on colleges or DU. On the other hand, many other issues have also been raised. The immediate withdrawal and reconsideration of the reservation roster, issued by the UGC on 5 March, is one amongst them. DUTA has demanded a reformulation of the said roster by standardising appointments by counting subject-wise departments (and not whole institutions) as units. 

“The DUTA demands withdrawal of retrograde recommendations of the 7th Pay Revision notification and the UGC draft regulations. We demand that the Revision of pension and other allowances be announced without further delay.” stated the press release.

Further actions expected

Rajib Ray, DUTA President, affirmed the faith in their fight and reiterated their decision to boycott semester-end evaluation until further notice. A Satyagraha: Mass Hunger Strike has also been organised on Wednesday, 30 May 2018 at Mandi House. DUTA will also write to teachers’ and students’ unions of other universities.

Feature Image Credits: Abha Dev Habib

Image Credits: DUTA

Raabiya

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