On 31st July, Manish Sisodia directed the Finance Department to stop the funds to 28 colleges of University of Delhi, over what he termed was “mala fide to delay the formation of governing bodies” which had been pending since October 2016. The purpose of these governing bodies was to facilitate and keep the check on the funds provided to Delhi University by the government of Delhi and to ensure accountability. There are twelve fully-funded colleges, while sixteen others recieve 5% funding from the government. This landmark decision could directly affect colleges like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Maharaja Agrasen College, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and nine others as they recieve direct funding from the government. Whereas colleges like Kamala Nehru College, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Shivaji College, Gargi College and fourteen others come under the partially-funded category.
In a last minute save, Delhi university (DU) sent a list of names for the governing bodies. However, that list was rejected by the Delhi government on 14th August on procedural grounds. A government official told Hindustan Times “DU has sent a list of five members for appointment of as governing council members.” Whereas the university had to send numerous names from which the government of Delhi chooses five, as the government warrants the members of the council, not Delhi University.
The contention between the government and university seems to persist because the state government has now nominated five members, that according to sources, includes names of those from diverse feilds to uphold balance in representation. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led government has asked DU to “duly constitute” the governing bodies which will include the five members included in the list sent to DU by the government before appointing any teachers or making severe administrative changes.
Image Credits: DUB Archives
Bhavya Banerjee
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