A 19-year old student of the University was allegedly gang raped by an autorickshawdriver and 3 accomplices on November 3, although the incident was reported to the police on November 7. The girl, a correspondence student and a resident of East Delhi’s Mandavali village, also works at a call centre in Noida. She was waiting for the call centre cab at 4 45 AM when the accused pulled her into an auto and took her at knifepoint to the Pragati Maidan parking lot, where they took turns raping her. They threatened to kill her if she resisted, finally dumping her off near her residence. One of the accused, Rambir, is in police custody while the others are still absconding.

What’s more shocking is that this heinous incident has come to light the day after BK Gupta took over from YS Dadwal as the new police commissioner of Delhi and one of the first things on his agenda was making the city safer for students. He had said “I have given the officers concerned two days to analyse the precise constitution and deployment of our present force vis-à-vis male and female officers. Our aim is to set up help desks especially for women students at north campus at the earliest”. Similar desks at South Campus and off-campus colleges are also planned.

Gupta came up with the idea after delivering a lecture at DU’s Jesus and Mary College recently. “During interaction, one of the students asked me why there weren’t many women police officers deployed at colleges even when it was amply clear that female students faced harassment. That set me thinking,” Gupta mentioned. This is the first of many planned initiatives aimed at making the Delhi Police a woman friendly force. Special Help Desks for women’s complaints are also being set up at 180 police stations.

Prateek Arora

[email protected]

The officer bearers of DUTA and the newly appointed VC, Dinesh Singh, met last Thursday to discuss the impasse regarding implementation of semester system in the 13 undergraduate science courses. The DUTA members said the meeting was an indication towards an early resolution. Vice Chancellor Singh also maintained that though there might not be any substantial development to speak about at the moment, the fact that a process of dialogue between the university and the DUTA members has begun is a positive development.

Teachers have been protesting against semesters for a variety of reasons. One of their concerns has been the declaration of results in time if exams are to be conducted every six months. According to Professor Dinesh Singh, teachers need not worry about it as the automation process of the entire examination system is already under way. In fact, Singh said that he was himself supervising the automation process. Some part of it is expected to be implemented in the postgraduate courses by this December itself. Singh said, ”We will take care of the results. Teachers will just have to grade the scripts. I have all faith in them.” He added, ”Everything will be available online and the marksheets would be printed automatically.”

Every academic detail of each student will be available in an online database by next year. It’s a part of the ongoing Student Lifecycle Management (SLCM) programme under which students will be given a unique identification number that can be used to access all background information. ”Once the process is automated, the assessment will become much faster. Teachers will just have to check the scripts and award marks. Things like writing or typing names, numbers and other information will not be required. The university will just need a day or two to declare results,” a DU official said.

Kriti Talwar
[email protected]

The swanky new Rugby stadium in Delhi University’s North Campus is to be

reconverted into a cricket stadium and a new pitch is to be laid. The stadium was built on

the University Cricket Ground opposite the School of Open Learning. The main arena

is to be changed back into a cricket stadium with 2-3 pitches, while one of the training

grounds will be retained as a rugby venue. Although, a final decision on the matter is yet

to be taken, the University maintains that they had taken a written assurance from the OC

that the pitch would be re-laid after the Commonwealth Games. The Vice-Chancellor

is the final authority on the matter, and will decide soon at a meeting of the DU Sports

Council.

University students have mixed opinions. Kshitij Chirimar of CBS says “There is enough

support and infrastructure for cricket already, that’s the last thing we need right now”,

while Ila Reddy of Hindu College said “Just having a rugby or football stadium won’t

promote the sport if you don’t have proper coaches or equipment. To promote non-cricket

sports is important, but you need other kinds of infrastructural support as well”.

Prateek Arora

[email protected]

DUTA announces a fresh round of strikes

Delhi University has decided to postpone the semester exams, which have now been scheduled between December

6 and December 14. The move comes after DUSU demanded that the semester exams be deferred as the syllabi had

not been completed due to non-cooperation by teachers opposing the semester system.

The new date sheet is likely to be announced by October end. As per the original academic calendar, the first

semester exams were scheduled between November 20 and November 29. Initially, the DU administration had

decided to postpone the dates by ten days but later, after consultations, it has decided to postpone the dates by

nearly two weeks.

”The new dates have been notified to give ample time to students and the teaching staff. The internal exams for

courses still run in the annual mode and will be conducted during the same period,” said a senior official from the

examination branch. Now the classes in the first semester will break up on December 3. The new semester will begin

from January 3.

DU vice-chancellor, Deepak Pental said: “We have decided to reschedule the calendar of exams in the interest of

the students… What is the point of conducting exams if the syllabi remained incomplete?” While, DUSU president,

Jitender Chaudhury, remarked: “DUSU welcomes the pro-student step the university is taking. We appeal to the

teachers to come to the classroom and complete the syllabi.”

However, DUTA has announced a fresh schedule of strikes to protest against the semester system and Prof. Deepak

Pental’s “illegal occupation” of VC’s office. At a General Body meeting, DUTA President Aditya Narayan Mishra said

that they would continue their protests, ‘hold dharnas in colleges on October 25-26,’ and ‘organize a march to the

HRD Ministry office on October 28.’

An agitated University administration reacted by sending circulars to all principals of colleges, asking them to

impress upon the teachers not to strike, in the interest of the students. The Registrar said in a circular issued to all

principals: “Teaching has already suffered in the current academic session due to frequent strikes/demonstrations,

and the University had to modify the academic calendar to make up for the loss of teaching.” The communiqué

reminded the principals that the administration’s earlier instructions of imposing the ”No work, No pay” rule are to be

enforced strictly.

DUB Correspondent

While the Delhi University grounds were being used for the Rugby matches, the offices

of the University saw action of a different kind. The tussle between the Vice-Chancellor

and the DUTA extended itself towards the radiation controversy as well. Readers might

remember that radio-active materials discarded by the University had resulted in the

death of one person and illness to several others.

On October 1, an Executive Council Meeting was held to discuss the report on the

incident. Six elected members on the council held that the meeting could not continue as

the Vice-chancellor’s term of office had expired. They added that as Dr Pental was one

of the accused, he could not, therefore, convene the meeting. At this meeting, DUTA

organised a dharna to protest against the continuation of Dr Pental’s tenure in office

without official sanction from the Visitor.

On the 4th, another meeting of the Executive Committee was held, in which the question

of Dr Pental’s tenure was again raised. Also, there was opposition to the report because

members alleged that the committee that prepared said report was neither selected nor

approved by the Executive Committee. DUTA, meanwhile, accused Dr Pental of hand-

picking the members of the committee to ensure that persons with “personal proximity to

him and to Prof. Parmar, the then Head of the Chemistry department” were on the panel.

The report itself lays the blame on the chemistry department. It therefore holds no person

or persons responsible for the manner of the disposal.

As a consequence of this, there will be another 3 member panel formed that will look into

the incident.

Eeshaan Tiwary

[email protected]

While most of us seem to be enjoying an off day when there should actually be college, The Delhi University Teachers’

Association (DUTA) is rallying hard against the implementation of the semester system in the Delhi University. Since

the week beginning 15th August, there has been a strike called by the DUTA almost every succeeding week to protest

the Vice-Chancellor’s decision to implement the semester system in DU.

In a bid to reach out to the students who have so far been very apathetic to the entire issue and who seem to be enjoying

the holidays rather than being worried about the situation, DUTA held open sessions in some colleges, explaining why

they were on strike and their 13-point agenda. Several relevant points were raised leading to serious doubts on the

feasibility of the semester system.

The new system alters the course structure of various courses, which are equivalent to their counterparts in Universities

like Oxford and Cambridge. This means that after completing graduation here, a student can take up admissions in

these universities without wasting time and funds doing another degree here to make it acceptable to universities

abroad. While the semester system may benefit all those students who wish to go abroad for further studies, it will still

be beneficial for only a minority.

While the VC is proud of the number of scholarships increasing to 22 from 11, what is going conveniently unnoticed

is the implicit fee hike for many courses in DU. What is also implicitly being suggested is the fact that there will be

no scope for revaluation of papers, and now the incentive to actually sit in class will be doubled to 10 from 5, without

really focusing on the quality that would make a student want to sit in class. Inter-disciplinaries will be given more

importance, contributing to one-third the total marks, diluting the essence of the honours courses.

While the University claims that Teachers are in favour of the system, it is only the Academic Council, which is

supporting the system. The academic council consists of teachers who no longer teach, nor do they evaluate the course

content to know what the practical requirements are. Teachers across colleges had rejected the proposal. Many colleges

don’t even have the infrastructure to support the semester system.

Implementation of the system has created severe confusion among students regarding the academic calendar and the

timing of the internal exams, winter holidays and fests. While most students enjoy strike days as holidays, there is a call

for wider student participation in the protest and more awareness regarding the same.

The outcome of the struggle is yet to be seen. But we hope that the dispute is settled and that students don’t suffer in

the bargain.

Rajneil Kamath

[email protected]

Janhavi Mittal

[email protected]

Following the radiation exposure incident in Mayapuri in April this year, DUTA alleged Vice

Chancellor Deepak Pental of dodging and undermining an enquiry into the leak.

This comes after Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) withdrew permission given to

Delhi University to use any radioactive source in its labs as it failed to submit a final reply.

The Association accused Pental of trying to subvert an inquiry into the disposal of radioactive

material and demanded that he be arrested to make way for an “unbiased” probe. Furthermore, it

was asked that the President of India comes as Visitor and that the HRD Ministry intervenes to

prevent Pental from “inflicting further harm to the University”.

The enquiry came after traces of Cobalt-60 source to the Gamma Irradiator which DU had

auctioned to a scrap dealer in Mayapuri in February leading to death of one person and injury to

10. Negligence in radioactive waste disposal was largely the reason for radiation leak.

Although, DU has appealed to AERB to remove the suspension order and allow the lab to use

the radioactive sources for their research experiments, the committee is unlikely to heed their

request. However, the science faculty cited that the ban will directly affect around 350 post-

graduate students, especially those who need to conduct experiments using radioactive sources.

“The DUTA demands that Prof Deepak Pental should be immediately arrested in order to carry

out an unbiased inquiry… The Vice-Chancellor and other authorities have consistently tried to

derail any worthwhile public inquiry into this incredible sale and has tried to subvert its own

inquiry,” it said in a statement.

Malvika Tripathi

[email protected]

Teachers at Universities will soon be graded and assessed annually in a system that will take into account their teaching and non-teaching activities. Under the UGC’s “Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education”, teachers will be graded on different parameters called Academic Performance Indicators(APIs).
The new system, called the Performance based Assessment System (PBAS) accords a weightage of 75% to teaching-related activities, their use of innovative teaching tools and examination duties. The remaining 15% will be assessed on activities outside of the purview of the classroom. These include student-centric activities such as the NSS/NCC, contributions to the department’s management, and participation in activities such as seminars, conferences, and so on.
Further, there is a proposal to also take into account “research and academic contributions” of teachers. Under a points system, there will be scores for different levels of publication. There will thus be different scores for publication of books, of chapters in books, of research papers, while research projects and consultancy projects will also be covered under this proposed points system.
While a committee on teachers’ pay revision had recommended self-assessment along with students’ evaluations, the latter does not figure in the new regulations. This is in line with the demands of teachers.