The Delhi University Students Union has publicly declared that the Vice Chancellor has repeatedly avoided meeting them and that they demand an immediate audience to discuss student’s welfare.
On the 5th of March, the ABVP led Delhi University Students Union organized a protest outside the Vice Chancellor’s office to bring to light the apparent absence of the Vice Chancellor and his unwillingness to discuss pertinent concerns of the students. The protest was led by Mr Shakti Singh( DUSU president) along with Ms. Jyoti Choudhary ( Joint Secretary, DUSU). It began outside the VC’s office and a group of close to 100 members of the ABVP marched towards Vishwavidyalaya metro station in an attempt to make their demands heard.
Majority of the protesters including the DUSU president Mr. Shakti Singh were arrested by the police to deescalate the tension and to prevent the crowd from turning violent. They were released shortly after. This protest comes directly after a protest held on the 18th of February expressing similar concerns.
The DUSU has accused the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Yogesh Tyagi of ignoring student’s issues and refusing to meet the elected members of the Union. This protest comes after repeated attempts made by the union to meet him so the issues could be discussed. Ms. Jyoti Chaudhary informed that she and the President had sent numerous applications in their personal capacity and on behalf of the union over the span of six months requesting to meet the VC. There has allegedly been no response from the VC’s office which has significantly hindered the DUSU’s ability to solve matters of heightened importance for the student community.
Four primary issues were presented during the protest which demanded the immediate attention of the VC. These were-
- The introduction of supplementary exams so that graduating students who have failed can reappear for the exam without a period of two months without having to wait for another year.
- New hostels should be constructed to satisfy the demand and the process of admission into the hostels should be centralized.
- The fees for any post graduate course should be uniform across all colleges. For example- Hindu College and Shaheed Sukhdev College should charge the same fees for common courses.
- Initiation of the Vice Chancellor’s scholarship for specially disabled students of Delhi University.
Mr. Shakti Singh said, “The Vice Chancellor should immediately end his dictatorial attitude and the fact that our attempts to discuss these important issues have been handled so carelessly by him is extremely unfortunate. We will continue the fight until and unless we receive an audience of the VC himself.”
Last year, a similar concern was raised by the former president of the DUSU Mr. Rocky Tuseed who towards the end of his term said that the Vice Chancellor actively ignored the DUSU and had taken out no time to discuss the concerns of the students with them.
On the other hand, the Vice President of the DUSU, Mr. Akash Chaudhary (NSUI) did not participate in the protest and claimed that “it is a publicity stunt where the same issues are raised year after year.” He also mentioned that he had met the Vice Chancellor on the 1st of November and had a discussion with him on issues such as “ICC elections in every college, provision of buses for female students, construction of sports facilities and proper grounds in all colleges.”
The President, Mr Singh also mentioned that “Owing to his health conditions, we have given him (VC) a period of 15 days to respond to our concerns. If we receive a negative response, we will be forced to hold a protest on a larger scale as the welfare of students is at stake.”
Image credits: ABVP Media Cell
Pragati Thapa
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