2017

Interviews

Of Innovative Furniture, Reminiscent DU Days, and an Illusionary Vision: Conversing with CityFurnish’s Neerav Jain about His Entrepreneurial Journey

By Saumya Kalia August 4, 2017

From the comfortable interiors of Jodhpur, Neerav Jain landed in the dynamic educational hub of the University of Delhi; where academics are kept at par with the extra-curricular caliber. The young entrepreneur takes us through his entrepreneurial adventure, CityFurnish, and the multi-faceted learning-opportunity the journey proffered after he graduated from Kirori Mal College back in 2013.

Starting a business is a mammoth task. Could you please delineate on the initial hurdles your start-up faced?

There were three major hurdles we faced initially. One thing was the age factor; I was starting very young and had just completed my undergraduate education. I had two years of work experience with my family and naturally it takes a little bit of time to understand things. Typically, if you see the breed of start-up coming in, they are filled by IITs and IIMs. When you are just coming up with a bachelor’s degree and scaling up, it’s challenging. It’s not just about funding, but about hiring too. When you are hiring someone who is smarter and more educated than you, you need to convince them to work for you. Secondly, having vision clarity. Furniture is nonstandard item. You can have categories in luxury, but in furniture this is a very difficult thing. We were clear that what we want to achieve as a company. We want CityFurnish to be known for furniture the way Uber is known for cab services in spite of the fact that they have started other services too. Establishing oneself in a particular category is a challenge. In short, don’t go for small money; create your own domain no matter how tough it is.

The third difficulty faced was creating a brand with limited resources like budget. Creating a brand needs investment. I learnt about this while I was in college. I was the Placement Cell and Commerce Society head. In a society, you need to pull up an event with very few funds. I learnt how to create a network effect and create a buzz. We started targeting customers near Chanakyapuri who weren’t much price conscious. They were very generous with reviews and sharing contacts. They acted as leverage for giving us publicity. It is a mammoth task creating a brand with limited resources. We wanted people to talk about our company.

Is there any entrepreneurial story that has personally inspired you?

One of my early investor was Mr. Jitendra Gupta, founder of Citrus, the payment gateway. His story is very similar to mine. Essentially, I am from a non-tech background. Whereas, he is a finance guy, running one of the largest payment gateway companies in India. His was the only start-up which was able to give a successful exit last year. Naturally, I was very motivated and connected with him due to several reasons. He has started with lot of challenges as in hailing from a non-tech background and hiring a tech team. Building the founding team will decide the next 50 teams in the company. He inspired me to be meticulous about choosing founding members. I learnt how to drive my co-workers with motivation as we weren’t paying much being a budding company. I learnt the concept of frugality from him and how it was important to chase investors with business matrix rather than the vanity matrix.

You were the Placement Cell Head and Com Soc President. How effective do you think DU’s placement and incubation cells are in grooming one’s personality?

For me, definitely very helpful. Coming from Jodhpur, till 12^th Pre-boards, my highest percentage was 69, so naturally, I was never a topper. DU itself came in as a little bit of surprise. The first thing I got to know was that a lot Delhites, typically, were doing multiple things at once; debate society, drama society, internships, article ship, and then they were good in studies also. That was something I was never doing in Jodhpur. When I came to DU, the only two things I could apply for were the Placement Cell and Commerce Society, where the requirements were management skills and aptitude. For me, the whole process was extremely intriguing. the complete grooming, the street smartness, the management of the teams; because the fundamental idea was that you’re not paying anything to the team. But still they are motivated to work, to stay till 3 in the night and then turning up next morning to again do all the work. From brining something, getting something from the canteen to managing work; and you’re not paying them anything and yet they are so motivated. Even when you’re starting your own company, though you’re not paying anything, you can still motivate your team if you have the vision theme clear. That’s an important learning I got; salary is not everything if you’re building up your company from scratch. My experience with Placement Cell and Com Soc, that frugality that spend very less, a lot of these things were imbibed from this.

It’s going to be the 2-year anniversary of CityFurnish. Looking back, what do you think could have been done differently or could have yielded better results?

That’s a very retrospective question! As an entrepreneur, there was a scope for improving each and everything. But for something which always bothers me, firstly is the hiring aspect of it. When I started up, I hired just for the role: I need a finance guy, a marketing guy, I hired just for the sake of hiring to conform to the role. That was a major point. Secondly, you need to stick to your gut feeling. Because you’ve thought this is the team structure, this is the vision, this is how we’re going to be different from the competitors, and this is how we’re going to be in the long run. We would always prefer to compete on service level, rather than the pricing level. If you’re fighting on the pricing, it’s always a downward spiral.

When did you make your first breakthrough? What was your first milestone?

The inception of CityFurnish has not been done in India. I was in Netherlands at the time and was handling an export order. During that time I got in touch with Mark, founder of the company called Just Eat which is equivalent Zomato in India but on a global scale. He was running a program called startup boot camp. He asked me to be a part of it as I had nothing much to do after my work. We got incubated in the start-up boot camp and out of a 100 teams, our start-up was among the top 10. That was a huge validation. Then, I came back to India because Delhi-NCR, as it is itself a bigger market than Netherlands. On 20^th September 2015, I got my first order, before we were officially incorporated. Receiving an order before officially launching a business is definitely something which pushes your morale.

You worked for your family business, Chandra Shekhar Exports. How did you decide to start your own venture and how supportive was your family about it?

My dad has been running his company for over 25 years now and naturally, he has his own set of rules and protocols to follow. I came from DU at that time, fresh of energy and innovation. I wanted to change everything about the business. At that time, I didn’t realize there is a thinking process working behind every protocol. My father was 58 at that time and I was 22 giving him suggestions like, “Aise nahin, aise karo.” And he would dismiss my suggestions which did hurt my ego, but it’s an important learning process. It was difficult for me at that point to understand that behind every set process there is an experience behind it.

How has your personal life changed ever since you grew out the reigns of your business?

I don’t think that I have achieved success yet, but yes, personal life has changed a lot. In DU, you have an amazing lifestyle. But once you start getting busy, you have to start saying no to plans made by friends. A lot of relationship equations change. Social life gets restricted; and some people understand these changes and some don’t. You have to forego a lot of short term pleasures which is actually quite challenging at this age.

Being DU students we realize that our lives are full of experiences. We want you to go back in the memory lane and feel nostalgic. Can you share some of your experiences with us?

When I came to Delhi, I really didn’t like it. Every two weeks, I used to go back to Jodhpur because of homesickness. I had made up my mind to discontinue studying in DU after a year; it was tough. But over time, it turned out to be different. It pushed me out of my comfort zone. Getting into DU was a slap in that mode. There was a cultural diversity, a vast set of people who won’t agree to your opinion just for the sake of it. The second thing that DU offered me was the human connect. I am still in touch with my placement cell juniors. I still know all the office bearers of my society. They still rope me in events they conduct, and thus, thereis a lot of connect still now.

I was involved in lot of extra-curricular activities and politics. It gave me an experience for life time. KMC and Ramjas are very famous for politics. Out batch was the first to churn out a President from B.Com after 35 years. That was the difference; politics has a notion of aggression around it. The violence is real. For DU, for first years, the gruesome violence is shit scary. Within college premises, hostel brawls, it is a whole issue altogether. At the exterior, it is a simple college election. Internally, a lot of things matter. Parties will come to societies and offer different services to garner votes. You obviously don’t want to get into their books but indulging in these unethical tactics is also not favourable. This is something which happens in the business world. The process of acquiring licenses and other procedures you will encounter people from influential backgrounds. If you’ve already experienced this in colleges, which DU offers, it gives you a wonderful understanding of self-confidence of your ability to handle it.

Had there been no DU, would there have been a CityFurnish?

Tough to say! I’ll quote an example from Amazon. When Amazon was started, it was an accumulation of events. The guys had to face challenges with regards to the products, social media changes. Similarly, DU has been an important part. So, I would say partly yes. Had I gone to Bombay, I would have landed in Chandra Shekhar Exports and would not have had the confidence to venture into new things with such aplomb. I would have been settled and devoid of the pressure. Everything under DU had a different role; commerce society, college politics, and so much more. A lot of insights and my actual experiences stem from my days at DU. How to run my team, how to build their morale, how to motivate them without giving them an adequate salary; it’s all there.

It’s a competitive world. How do you make sure that you stay at par with your competitors, especially with the advent of social media amongst other changing trends?

From the competitor’s perspective, we realized our strengths and weaknesses from an early stage which is very essential. Instead of having just one barrier to entry, our approach was to have multiple barriers. We divided it across spectrum. The prima facie was to build the brand. Out of our team of people dealing with customers, you will see our average response time and delivery time is 48-72 hours, versus our competitors which is 7-10 days. Wherever we could get the customer delight factor, we tried to focus on that; from the project and team level. Secondly, we realized from the technological point. My other two partners, Saurabh and Vineet, have an expansive work experience of 6-7 years, with education from IIM and DTU respectively. Earning highly, coming into a startup with no salaries for at least a year was a challenge itself. We have divided our roles, which has helped us build our own defenses. Saurabh is extremely proficient in the digital marketing field. At the end of the day, the customer knows us from the digital spectrum. Saurabh used the strategy of ensuring that CityFurnish was always amongst the top three searches. What Vineet brings on board is the financial and convenience aspect. He collaborated with important companies and adapted a payment model which suited our functioning method and was to our preference. Internally, the payment collection was happening on time and the team resources were handled. So, the customer delight, the online aspect of it, and customer convenience through the service and delivery is how we coped with the changes.

Any suggestion for the young minds ripe with the thoughts of venturing out into a business of their own?

In DU, there are lot of investors and mentors. People these days don’t share their ideas fearing plagiarism. I would say that in start-ups, idea is 2% and the rest is execution. I will suggest that talk to people, no matter how rubbish your idea sounds. The second thing is, don’t over think your idea. Every idea has more cons than pros. How you deal with the cons and establishing a business is what that makes you stand out. There were a lot of cons while I was analysing the business plan of CityFurnish. However, we were able to deal with things tactfully. We made sure that our business is customer driven and not competitor or investor driven. Another important thing is identifying the trend. Make sure that your idea suits the trend!

What are some of your immediate goals in the pipeline?

We’ve tried to follow along the lines of Amazon’s business strategy: always think from the perspective of customers, which would allow your misses to turn into hits inevitably. Our idea is to launch wall beds; so the idea is to uplift the level of competition. It is an innovation at the product level. If in one item we are able to provide a multitude of utilities, it obviously helps us. The second target is to try to integrate the internet of things in the furniture sector. We are integrating the Bluetooth speaker, phone charger set-up into the sofa set itself. It’s not something revolutionary, however, the utilitarian aspect enhances the customer delight. These small things are now being targeted at a proto-type level. Beyond that, we are focusing on brand building. To establish CityFurnish for what it should be known for; something which will set the narrative for the company for the future years to come. There are a lot of things down the line, long-term visions which we want the company to achieve.

CityFurnish is India’s third largest and a rapidly growing furniture, furnishings and appliances rental brand. Set upon the task to provide smarter lifestyle solutions, CityFurnish is revolutionizing the on-demand rental economy by making renting affordable and easy.

Neerav Jain is the founder and CEO at CityFurnish- India’s fastest growing furniture, furnishings and appliances rental brand. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Delhi University, and Business & Enterprise Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Neerav landed his first job as an Export Manager with Pepperfry. He later went on to attend the Lean Launchpad and Business Innovation course at Utrecht University.

Feature Image Credits: Facebook

Saumya Kalia

Sandeep Samal

Admissions 2017

Delhi University Launches Special Admissions Drive for Reserved Category Seats

By Radhika Boruah August 3, 2017

The University of Delhi is currently admitting students and has released the eight cut-off list yesterday for admissions in various undergraduate courses. This exclusive drive is meant for students who have not been admitted to any college irrespective of any reserved category under previous cut-off lists even after registration. The admissions for this cut-off list will take place until August 4. A recent press release by the University said, “No fresh registrations will be allowed in the drive.”

This special drive is exclusively for admitting reserved category students. There are a lot of vacant seats under the reserved categories in various colleges and the varsity looks forward to filling up these seats by releasing more cut offs. To ensure reserved category fill the seats, the Delhi University will also issue ninth cut-off list to admit students belonging to reserved categories — SC, ST, OBC, Persons With Disabilities (PWD), Children/Widows (CW) of Armed Forces, Kashmiri Migrants (KM) and students in Sports/Extra Curricular Activities (ECA).

Even in the eighth cut-off list, the highest percentage remains high with 95 for B.Sc Physics (Hons) at the Hindu College for the OBC students. In Hansraj College, the cut-off is 91.5 per cent for OBC students in B.A. Economics (Hons), 86.75 per cent for SC, 79.5 for ST candidates.

You can find the cut off list here.

For details regarding variation in cut-off percentages, the candidates are advised to contact the respective colleges. The eligible students are further advised to complete their admission formalities in the concerned colleges within the specified time. Admissions for the general category are closed now. Delhi University will release the ninth cut off on August 7 and the admission will start on August 8.

Image credits: www.du.ac.in

Radhika Boruah

DUB Speak

Your Next Three Years, Defined by Your Next Three Weeks

By DU Beat August 3, 2017

The University of Delhi is undoubtedly a breeding ground for personal growth. For 60,000 students each year, the central university becomes a new home, out of which students leave as the best versions of themselves. This is not the work of solely DU itself, though – it requires students to make the best of what the University has to offer.

Delhi University is most popular for its numerous societies. Whether performing or non-performing, these societies usually hold their auditions in the first couple weeks of August. While they may be daunting, auditions are one of the best ways to get out of your comfort zones, especially right out of school. They also work as a quick method of getting to know both your seniors and your peers and finding a group of people who are passionate about the same things as you. College is about exploring and growing – whether that’s excelling in a field you’re already experienced in or going out of your way to developing a new skill. Many a time, your fellow society members will go on to become your friends for life.

These friends are, of course, as diverse as they come. As a DU professor once said, “During our times, classrooms were mostly filled with students who came from Delhi itself, but now every classroom is a picture of Pan-Indian culture.” It is likely that your class has a substantial composition of students who aren’t from the same background or region as you. This diversity gives you a special window into the different parts – and more importantly, the different people – of India. Make an effort to befriend them. You’ll definitely learn about the diversity our country offers, but in addition to that, there’s a good chance you’ll also get to enjoy the cuisines and cultures of other states.

The next three weeks are when you’ll probably pick your college friends and stick with them during your time in DU. As we know, a man’s friends define who he is. The people whom you will choose will play a huge role in influencing your life decisions for the next three years. In both your difficult times and happy moments, they will become your family. They say we can’t choose our family, but college is when lifelong friendships are made. Choose wisely and you’ll have a new, handpicked family in merely a few years.

When it comes to growth, we can’t forget about the sudden shock that college gives you. Prescribed books, reference books, guides, sample question papers, and everything else that previously made your academic journey a set road are now a thing of the past. Xerox readings, partial syllabus coverage, and delayed exam results reflect the sad state of higher education in our country, but on the other side also give you an opportunity to build your skills of self-reliance and forge a personality that seeks success on self-efforts. So when DU gives you a hard time, use it to hone your confidence and spontaneity.

With two weeks of college already completed, make the most out of the coming days to make your mark. Get ready to embrace Delhi University – it’ll be your home before you know it.

ImageDesign by Kartik Kakar for DU Beat

Srivedant Kar

Vineeta Rana

DUB Speak

Your Next Three Years, Defined by Your Next Three Weeks

By Srivedant Kar August 3, 2017

The University of Delhi is undoubtedly a breeding ground for personal growth. For 60,000 students each year, the central university becomes a new home, out of which students leave as the best versions of themselves. This is not the work of solely DU itself, though – it requires students to make the best of what the University has to offer.

Delhi University is most popular for its numerous societies. Whether performing or non-performing, these societies usually hold their auditions in the first couple weeks of August. While they may be daunting, auditions are one of the best ways to get out of your comfort zones, especially right out of school. They also work as a quick method of getting to know both your seniors and your peers and finding a group of people who are passionate about the same things as you. College is about exploring and growing – whether that’s excelling in a field you’re already experienced in or going out of your way to developing a new skill. Many a time, your fellow society members will go on to become your friends for life.

These friends are, of course, as diverse as they come. As a DU professor once said, “During our times, classrooms were mostly filled with students who came from Delhi itself, but now every classroom is a picture of Pan-Indian culture.” It is likely that your class has a substantial composition of students who aren’t from the same background or region as you. This diversity gives you a special window into the different parts – and more importantly, the different people – of India. Make an effort to befriend them. You’ll definitely learn about the diversity our country offers, but in addition to that, there’s a good chance you’ll also get to enjoy the cuisines and cultures of other states.

The next three weeks are when you’ll probably pick your college friends and stick with them during your time in DU. As we know, a man’s friends define who he is. The people whom you will choose will play a huge role in influencing your life decisions for the next three years. In both your difficult times and happy moments, they will become your family. They say we can’t choose our family, but college is when lifelong friendships are made. Choose wisely and you’ll have a new, handpicked family in merely a few years.

When it comes to growth, we can’t forget about the sudden shock that college gives you. Prescribed books, reference books, guides, sample question papers, and everything else that previously made your academic journey a set road are now a thing of the past. Xerox readings, partial syllabus coverage, and delayed exam results reflect the sad state of higher education in our country, but on the other side also give you an opportunity to build your skills of self-reliance and forge a personality that seeks success on self-efforts. So when DU gives you a hard time, use it to hone your confidence and spontaneity.

With two weeks of college already completed, make the most out of the coming days to make your mark. Get ready to embrace Delhi University – it’ll be your home before you know it.

ImageDesign by Kartik Kakar for DU Beat

Srivedant Kar

Vineeta Rana

Campus Central

Zero is the the qualifying marks for SC/ST Category in Maths dept. PhD Admissions

By Niharika Dabral August 3, 2017

The University of Delhi is one of the most competitive places to secure a seat. With the ever increasing cut-throat completion and the advent of seat cuts in higher education, it is now especially tough to pursue post graduate-research courses. In this condition, if you come to know that for you can qualify for PhD interview even when you scored zero marks in the entrance test, then you’ll probably dismiss this news as a piece of fiction. Well, looks like in Delhi University fiction is the truth.

On July 25^th the list of candidates selected for the interview and its schedule for PhD admission was declared on Delhi University’s official website. In the list, the minimum qualifying marks for all categories are mentioned, wherein for ST and SC category the minimum marks were said to be zero.

According to the Department of Mathematics website the selection criterion for PhD is such that , the candidates without without any external fellowship will be called for an interview based on the entrance test and the merit list of selected candidates will be prepared on the basis of performance in the interview. However the setting of zero marks as the minimum qualifying marks for sitting in the interview raises questions of the relevance of the written exam.

Talking to DU Beat, on the condition of anonymity, a high ranking official belonging to the Department Mathematics clarified that the entrance test is not qualifying test and there isn’t any guideline set by the university to dictate the minimum eligibility marks for the entrance. He also added that since the department doesn’t get enough SC/ST applicants, and as per the University rules the reserved seats need to be filled by reserved category students only, it is only wise to call all those who gave the entrance test. He also asserted the need for official guidelines to set the minimum eligibility criterion based on entrance exam because the department on its own can’t fudge with the rules. He also informed that earlier the department had even admitted students in certain reserved categories with negative marks.

Image Credits: www.du.ac.in

Niharika Dabral

Arts & Culture

A Guide to Cracking the Freshers’ Contest

By DU Beat August 2, 2017

The atmosphere of colleges across the University of Delhi is thick with the repeated mention of freshers’ parties. Conversations reek of both anticipation and bewilderment; two sentiments that newbies are naturally good at emoting, especially so when the takers for the Ms. /Mr. Freshers’ title are so many.

It is more than just okay to want to win the contest because a little adulation does go a long way. Here’s a list of things that you need to keep in mind if you’re in the running to become the Ms. / Mr. Fresher of your college!

Dos

Stick to the theme: It is absolutely necessary for you to adhere to the theme of the freshers’, if at all there is any. When the Students’ Union along with the able assistance of the advisory board comes up with a theme, after a lot of contemplation, that is, it expects compliance for the same. If you fail to abide by the theme, chances are that you will lose your eligibility as a potential candidate.
Preliminary research on the theme: A Freshers’ contest comprises of several rounds, one of which might be a theme specific question and answer round. Just so you are not caught off guard, acquaint yourself well with the theme. For example, if you happen to have a comic-themed freshers’ party, then it is imperative that you know, what building served as the original headquarters for the Fantastic Four and other questions of the like.
Maintain a sartorial splendor: Everyone is excited for the Freshers’; so much that their enthusiasm is palpable even from a distance but the thrill must be such that can be contained or it is likely to lead to a wardrobe disaster. Some people tend to let their exhilaration lead them astray. It is important to look tasteful. A wedding makeover is not what the freshers’ demand; rather a subtle stroke of light make up, coupled with a sartorially pleasing piece of clothing, is probably what it does. It is always important to suit the requisites and not go overboard.
Hone your skills: A freshers’ contest is incomplete without a show of the various talents. It is necessary/advised for you to have one specialised skill, at the very least. However, as much as it is important to possess an innate (or acquired) ability, honing the same stands at equal footing with its possession. It is always advisable to prepare well, or think, in advance for this round in particular.
Be confident: It is the most clichéd advice in the world but also the most significant one. Self-assurance stands head and shoulders above the rest; word has it that a great figure or physique is nice, but it’s self-confidence that makes someone really sexy. (Vivica A. Fox) If you are in the running to become the Ms. /Mr. Fresher, it is an obligation for you to have faith in yourself and your abilities as an individual contestant. Everyone is a little scared but what is important is to not let the agitation show. The focus should be on showcasing the best version of yourself out there, regardless of how much better or worse your fellow competitor is because trust me, everyone is just as new to that moment as you are.

Don’ts

Don’t fret: It is essential for you to understand that the panel in front of you is basing its judgment on how well you carry yourself and how bold your personality is. Faintheartedness is very easy to spot and can severely affect your chances of winning. In order to leave an impression on the jury, it is important that you gulp down the nervousness. Even during the question and answer round, make sure to not let your fear get the better of you. Let your conviction speak for itself.
Don’t be brash: While it is okay to be assertive, it is not, to be foolhardy. Everyone has their own set of beliefs and convictions and it as much our responsibility as is theirs, to respect them. In situations involving an interaction with the panel, it is a requisition to be accommodating. It is both, disrespectful and reckless to disregard a perspective without hearing an articulate explanation of the same. Understanding the downsides of ideological coercion is paramount in this regard.
Don’t confuse it for a beauty pageant: I cannot lay enough emphasis on how absolutely necessary it is for everyone to know that Freshers’ is not a beauty pageant but a personality contest. It is something that should implicitly be understood but needs perpetual reiteration, nonetheless. The contest abides by a very well thought out criteria for selection, which accounts for pretty much everything with the exception of outward beauty. It is especially mandatory for people competing for the title to rid themselves of any pre-conceived notions of the like.

Having said all of the above, it is also always good to remember that freshers’ is meant for the sole purpose of enjoyment. It is the beginning of a new year, rather a new life, and it should be dealt with just the same!

Feature Image Credits: TheTab

Lakshita Arora

DUB News

DU Beat hosts debate on India’s future foreign policy at American Center, New Delhi

By DU Beat August 2, 2017

On July 31 2017, DU Beat in conjunction with the American Center hosted a debate on the vital issue, ‘Is India’s future foreign policy still unaligned?’ at the American Center, New Delhi. The debate was moderated by Geeta Mohan, the foreign affairs editor of India Today TV accompanied by Douglas Fowler, Acting Director, North India Office, U.S. Embassy and Richard Pinkha , Director of Programs, American Center, U.S. Embassy. Finest debaters from Delhi-NCR’s top universities like Ashoka University, National Law University (Delhi), University of Delhi participated in the event and shared their insightful viewpoints on India’s position in the current international geopolitical scenario.

The debate proved to be engaging and fruitful with witty remarks from the participants’ side on the current India-China Standoff at Doklam, contentious superpower equations between U.S.A., China and India, Nehruvian Non-Alignment, nuclear power rivalry, bilateralism, Cold War politics and foreign relations of India vis-a-vis other nations with valuable inputs from the moderator and the audience as well. The discourse raised questions on whether following the post independence – Cold War defence mechanism, that is , the Non Alignment policy would prove to be a concrete safeguard for India in the long run so as to extract maximum benefits from the East Asian and the Middle East countries as well as not to err the dragon next door, or to vouch for a harder stance aligning oneself with America remaining benign with Japan, Russia, Australia, Eurocrats and other allies at the same time.

Anmol Mittal from National Law University, Delhi (in proposition) and Kartikey Dwivedi from Jindal School of International Affairs (in opposition) emerged as winners amidst a tough competition.

Feature Image Credits: PV Purnima for DU Beat

Oorja Tapan

Uncategorized

#BleedWithoutFear Surfaces in the University of Delhi

By DU Beat August 1, 2017

Kerala government’s recent effort to ensure menstrual hygiene, the much thought out ‘She Pad’ scheme was announced last month by the Chief Minister of the state, Mr. Pinnarayi Vijayan. Subsequently, the Students’ Federation of India, the students’ wing of CPI(M) has also led a wider campaign with the tag, “Bleed Without Fear” in the University of Delhi; demanding installation of sanitary napkin vending machines.

The scene unfolded on a Monday morning was as such: the sight of the entire campus walls and trees pasted with sanitary napkins and the slogan, “Bleed without Fear.” A multitude of students from premier institutes like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and most colleges of the University of Delhi have extended their support to the campaigns led by SFI.

A signature campaign has also been initiated for the same demand. This campaign is generating great enthusiasm among the students in the campus. Hundreds of students have signed up as volunteers for the campaign in the last one week.

“Our demand was not only against the high GST tax on the pads, but our #BleedWithoutFear also stands for the menstrual hygienic health of the female community. Every school and college should install sanitary napkin vending machines with good quality of pads with an environment safely disposal mechanism,” said Satarupa Chakraborty, a member of SFI to the Indian Express.

About a month back, more than 300 female students affiliated with SFI sent sanitary napkins to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The napkins with the slogan ‘bleed without fear, bleed without tax’ on them were sent to protest against the imposition of 12% tax as per GST.

This particular incident at the University of Delhi has been SFI’s endeavour to bring the campaign and protest on a national platform.

Feature Image Credits: Prashant Mukherjee
Ankita Dhar Karmakar

News

Hostel Curfew Rescheduled, Agitated Students Withhold Protests in Fear

By DU Beat August 1, 2017

Recently, the Ambedkar-Ganguly Students House for Women shifted its curfew timings from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. Students dissented but refrained from protesting in the fear that their hostel seat would be taken away from them.

The hostel provides accommodation to postgraduate DU students with a majority of the seats reserved for the students of Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and ST and SC categories. The unilateral change in the curfew timings was brought about by the hostel warden, K. Ratnabali, without any consultations with the elected Students Welfare Association. This could be an act of violation of the regulations of the University Grants Commission that occupies the position of the law in the collegiate space. The regulations put forward by the UGC deny safety as an excuse to restrict mobilisation among female students. There were further rules proclaiming that “Students cannot interfere while authorities make or modify rules”, thus paralysing all participation of the students in the management committees.

Pinjra Tod, a students’ collective that focuses on the right to freedom and fights sexism in university spaces, said:

Such infantilisation of university students is unacceptable! When it was pointed out that this act is a violation of UGC guidelines, the authorities focused their energies to silence protests rather than addressing legitimate concerns of students. They deployed pressure tactics such as:
– Denial of University housing and using it as a threat to silence/discourage dissenting voices from surfacing.
– Denial of democratic participation in the process of drafting of hostel rules.
– Forcing students to ratify the rules stated in the handbook which have been surreptitiously altered to deny residents any participation in the rule-making process!
– Forcing students to sign affidavits and undertakings that amount to waiving off their right to protest as a precondition to securing a hostel seat.

The victimisation of dissenting voices among students and infringement of their democratic fundamental rights have always been contentious situations across university spaces because of which harassment, oppression, abuse, and even coercion often remains unreported.

Looking further into the issue, an emergency general body meeting was held by the Warden, where she explained that the rules were being misinterpreted. One could come in till 4 a.m. after the 9 p.m. curfew, which would be regarded as a late night.

A resident of the hostel stated, “We thought that our exit timing was shifted from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. Basically that is true that once you sign the attendance by 9 p.m., you cannot exit. But we did not have any idea about this late-night thing. So, she (warden) was like if you people had a problem or wanted clarification why didn’t you approach us. We were planning to do so but as people were not readmitted to the hostel yet, we couldn’t decide which will be the right time to approach her. As the rule book says, you cannot question authority. I really don’t know whether it was a consequence or we genuinely misinterpreted it.”

The residents are currently waiting for a written resolution to dissolve this ambiguity.

Feature Image Credits: University of Delhi

Trishala Dutta
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