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Jesus and Mary College and DU at Odds over Minority Admissions

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Delhi University yet again is at loggerheads with its minority-administered south campus Jesus and Mary College on the decision to do away with the interview in the upcoming admission season for its minority students.  Delhi University cannot take over admissions under Minority quota, states JMC plea.

Jesus and Mary College has filed a High Court petition in an effort to overturn Delhi University’s decision about the admission procedure for the academic year 2023-2024. According to a notification released by the University on December 30, 2022, The Executive Council of Delhi University made a decision to give admissions at both UG and PG levels solely on the basis of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) score. This policy also covers admissions under reserved categories and minority quotas. As confirmed by numerous other sources, the university intends to use only CUET scores as the only criterion for admission regardless of any category.

Conflicting views have emerged between the minority colleges and the University as a result of this decision. Advocate Romy Chacko advances JMC’s argument which states that is in clear violation of Article 30, of the Constitution of India to insist on giving 100 per cent weightage to CUET scores under the 50 per cent minority quotas.

Minorities have the fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions under Article 30. Hence, the plea declares that University cannot interfere with their right or take absolute control of admissions as it is Ultra vires ( an act beyond one’s legal capacity or authority ) and unconstitutional.

A similar concern was raised by St. Stephens in September 2022 which sparked a legal battle between the college and the University where the college wanted to conduct interviews for the admission process apart from the CUET scores. In their plea, St. Stephens insisted on giving 85 per cent to CUET scores and the rest 15 per cent to its interview round for non-Christian applicants. While they stressed this was their right as a minority institution to take decisions independently, The High Court ordered the college to concentrate only on CUET merit for admitting non-minority students adding that the interview process can be carried out for the minority students. The college appealed the High Court decision to the Supreme Court after that.

The JMC plea makes a reference to this High Court decision dated September 12 and notes that while the St. Stephens case is still pending with the Supreme Court, this decision of the Executive Council is in conflict with the previous High Court Judgement and suffers from ‘total non-application of mind’.

On Tuesday, the matter was listed before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad. The Delhi High Court is now set to hear this plea by Jesus and Mary College on May 24, 2023. Notices for the same have been sent to Delhi University and UGC.

Read Also: St. Stephen’s Supreme Council Row Escalates, Delhi High Court Seeks Response

Image Credits – Jesus and Mary official website

Priya Agrawal

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DU Scraps Existing B.El.Ed. Programme, Teachers Raise Objection

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B.El.Ed.

Delhi University intends to replace the current B.El.Ed. degree with an integrated course for teachers’ education in compliance with NEP 2020. The move, which is expected to be implemented from July 2023 onward, has been met with opposition from faculty members who have questioned the reasoning behind it.

The Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) degree at Delhi University is due to be replaced with a new programme beginning this year, the Integrated Teacher’s Education Programme (ITEP), a new four-year course that is expected to commence in July. It will offer the B.A.B.Ed., B.Sc.B.Ed., and B.Com. courses. Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary (5+3+3+4): the new school structure laid out in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 will be followed to train teachers henceforth.

We will be scrapping B.El.Ed. and bringing in ITEP. For this year, we will run both programmes parallelly. Both can’t run together because teachers are limited; we are not getting new teachers from the government. We are looking at starting ITEP this July, and if there is a positive response, B.El.Ed will be automatically scrapped.

-DU registrar Vikas Gupta, in conversation with The Indian Express

Four colleges under the University of Delhi have applied for the programme. Three of them—Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, Jesus and Mary College, and Mata Sundri College—will launch the new programme this year following approval from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The rationale given behind the scrapping of the B.El.Ed. programme is the implementation of NEP and the objective of transformational improvements in the education system.

Every course has its durability. For instance, now that NEP has come into effect, the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) has automatically ended. Existing teachers are qualified; they will teach the new course. Colleges have provided a list of teachers, post which the NCTE has given its approval.

-DU registrar Vikas Gupta, in conversation with The Indian Express

According to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), a flagship programme of NCTE under NEP 2020, the ITEP will be launched in 57 Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) from the academic session 2023–24.

This integrated course will benefit students since they will save one year by finishing the course in 4 years rather than the customary 5 years required by the present B.Ed. plan… The course will contribute substantially to the revitalization of the whole teacher education sector.

– statement issued by PBI on March 4, 2023

Reportedly, teachers have expressed concern about the decision and questioned the need for its scrapping considering it is a “popular course with a high placement record.” The Department of Elementary Education hosted a meeting last week wherein faculty members urged the University and the governing board to reconsider the decision. Teachers agreed with the implementation of ITEP in light of more extensive reforms to teacher education in accordance with the NEP. However, they insisted that it should be an addition rather than a replacement to the existing curriculum. According to The Indian Express, teachers and educationists at the meeting called the ITEP a “pedagogically and academically flawed programme.”

What is the rationale for removing one course to start another? B.EL.Ed. is the first and only professional degree programme that prepares teachers for elementary classes (I-VIII), mandated under the Right to Education Act. It weaves together general and professional education. ITEP, on the other hand, is designed as a 3+1 programme, where 3 years is focused on general education and one year for professional training.

-Prof. Maya John, a member of DU’s academic council, in conversation with The Quint

The B.El.Ed. programme was launched in 1994 by Delhi University and is currently offered in eight colleges. It was the first integrated teacher programme for elementary education that an Indian university had ever provided.

The B.El.Ed. programme, with its interdisciplinary approach and integration of general and professional education, has successfully trained over 8,000 teachers, in consonance with the Constitutionally mandated Right to Education Act.

-Prof. Poonam Batra, a retired DU professor who co-created the B.El.Ed. programme

Teachers have questioned the justification for the implementation of ITEP, claiming it is “inadequate” to provide the requisite skills.

The ITEP programme provides only one-year professional training following three years of general education (BA/BSc), which is inadequate to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and capacities for teaching diverse levels and classrooms. Imposition of ITEP goes against university statutes that protect the university’s autonomy to design curricula.

-Prof. Poonam Batra added

Pankaj Arora, Dean of the Department of Education, disagreed with this assertion and claimed that the “new course caters to the needs of the new structure as envisaged by NEP.”

The new course is a dual degree course. This will allow vertical mobility because it has multiple entry and exit points. This means that if students complete three years and leave, they will still get their degrees. Moreover, they go on to pursue their Masters and will even be eligible for Ph.D. under the new Ph.D. regulations.

-Dr. Pankaj Arora, Dean of the Department of Education

Read also : Demand Raised for Permanent Principal in SBSEC (Evening) – DU Beat – Delhi University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Featured Image Credits : The Indian Express

Manvi Goel
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DU Faculty of Technology to Inaugurate Soon

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DU

Delhi University is all set to inaugurate its Faculty of Technology, which is expected to commence admissions to three engineering courses from this year onwards.

Delhi University’s senior officials stated that with official clearances now in place, the University’s eagerly anticipated Faculty of Technology is ready to start accepting students for the upcoming academic session. DU’s statutory authority had approved three engineering courses—B. Tech. in Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, and Electrical Engineering—in December 2021. However, because of pending approvals on staffing, funding, and other elements, the University had been unable to launch the programmes. Now, admission to the programmes will be based on the Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE) Mains. According to the current plans, each engineering branch will have around 120 students. These will be further divided into two sections.

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh reportedly told the Times of India that the central government has sanctioned both teaching and non-teaching roles. These sanctions, he continued, have come after nearly two decades.

“The government has approved the posts that the University had sought. Around 72 teaching posts and 48 non-teaching posts have been sanctioned by the Centre. Admissions to the three programmes will start from the upcoming academic session as all the required approvals, including those from the University Grants Commission, are now in place.” – DU Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh

The Vice Chancellor added that despite the finalization of the land for construction of the new building for the faculty of technology, construction has not started yet. Therefore, initially, the University will look for an alternative building to hold classes. In a couple of years, these will be moved to the new building on the North Campus itself.

A senior official added that the University is currently in the process of introducing multiple new centres and programmes, but the Faculty of Technology is a priority.

“The building plans, layout structure and location for the new building have all been approved. We are waiting for financial assistance from the HEFA (Higher Education Funding Agency) and are hopeful that a number of things will materialise by May. The target set for completing the new building is two years.” – a senior official at DU

A new medical college is another project the university is considering, in addition to a variety of other programmes like a five-year LLB programme.

“While the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute is already there, we are exploring the possibility of opening a new medical college under DU. This is at a nascent stage. Initially, discussions need to be held with the Centre and especially the ministry of health.”- DU Registrar Vikas Gupta

With the report for the five-year LLB programme likely to be submitted to the University next week, the Vice Chancellor also commented on the varsity’s plans to construct law campuses at Surajmal Vihar and Dwarka in the near future.

Read also: DU Panel Advisory Proposes Ways to Strengthen Security in Colleges

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat

Manvi Goel
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Admissions

DU Buckles Up for 2020-21 Admissions Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

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As the nation rages its battle on COVID-19, the Delhi University Admissions Branch has also come into action. These actions relate to easing the admission process for students during this pandemic. 

The Admissions Branch of the University has issued a formal letter to all the college principals. This letter mentions the measures that all 91 colleges under the varsity have to abide by in order to, ‘ensure smooth conduct of DUET 2020 and for student friendly merit-based admissions in the university.’

The colleges would have to upload all necessary information pertaining to the college and its admission process on the college website. Additionally the colleges have to form an Admission team that will have to ensure a smooth admission process. Apart from this the colleges have to prepare a comprehensive list of FAQs related to the various courses offered by the college to help the students choose their desirable course.

The list of the Generic Elective subjects or the compulsory inter-disciplinary subjects according to each will also be uploaded by the colleges on their website. The branch has also directed the colleges to deploy student volunteers to help the fresher.

Furthermore the varsity will be increasing the number of EWS or Economically Weaker Section seats from 10% to 15% this academic year in accordance to the 2nd phase of expansion of EWS. The colleges will have to mention the number of EWS seats in their respective websites.

Following the government’s national lockdown directive, the Admissions Branch has also advised the colleges to minimize the physical verification of the mandatory documents during the admission process. 

The University, during the 2019-20 admission, had sought to largely make the admission process online and was successful to a great extent. The registration process is done online to a full extent, however, the physical verification which needs the students to go the respective colleges isn’t. It is yet to be seen as how the administration will handle this. Last year alone more than 3,00,000 students had applied in various courses and thus it remains a mammoth task for the university officials to conduct the admissions process successfully.

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Aniket Singh Chauhan

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Admissions

Delhi University Entrance Test 2020 Postponed

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Delhi University Entrance Test has been delayed until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.  

With the Covid-19 outbreak, the Prime Minister announced a 21-day pan-national lockdown on the 25th of March. This has led to most of the functions in the country coming to a halt or being delayed. Such has been the case with the Delhi University Admission Test (DUET) which is conducted by the National Test Agency (NTA). The application process for the same had to be started this week, however due to the unanticipated pandemic outbreak, these processes have been delayed. Extensions for applications of several examinations have been announced by the NTA. Exams like JEE Mains and NEET UG have also been postponed. 

The application process was initially supposed to have begun on the 2nd of April. Apart from the lack of staff to manage the applications under the lockdown, the process also requires 12th board marksheets, exams for which have been postponed in most states. Consequently, the operations for the application process have been suspended until further notice. 

DUET is a two-hour examination conducted across different centres. The exam has 100 questions; 4 marks are awarded for every correct answer, while 1 mark is deducted for incorrect. NTA conducts examinations for entrances to both undergraduate and postgraduate programs offered by the Delhi University. The following are the subjects:

  • B Tech (Information technology and mathematical innovations)
  • BA Hons Business Economics
  • Bachelor of Management Studies
  • BA Hons Humanities and Social Science
  • Bachelor of Business Administrations (Financial Investment Analysis)
  • B Ed
  • Bachelor of Science in Physical Education
  • Health Education and sports
  • BA Hons Multimedia and Mass communication
  • Five Year Integrated Programme in Journalism

In PG courses, apart from those that offer interdisciplinary or professional courses, students are admitted to departments, 50% on the basis of merit and 50% on DUET rank. The entrance test may or may not be followed by an interview or a group discussion. 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat archives

Aditi Gutgutia

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DU to Form Admission Branch for Hassle-Free Process

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In an attempt to solve the annuala admissions chaos, University of Delhi (DU) has decided to form a separate branch to overlook the tedious admission process for a more organised admission session. 

Like the examination committee, DU has decided to organise and streamline the entire admission process. The decision has been taken in lieu of this year’s admission process which witnessed late cut-offs and multiple complaints. 

University of Delhi has an intake of lakhs of students from all over India accompanied by sky-high cut-offs. It becomes more imperative that the entire process is closely supervised.

Rasal Singh, member of the standing committee on the admissions for the session 2019-20 said, “Delhi University is India’s biggest and premier central University. Lakhs of students from all over India and abroad come here for admissions. We don’t have a dedicated and full-fledged admission branch for a consistent admission policy and its hassle-free implementation. The lack of it, hence, leads to unnecessary delays and makes it complicated too.” 

This session marked delayed admissions and incomplete procedure. There were many changes in the admission policy at the last minute that even led to the University being dragged to the court. After that, the policies framed had to be withdrawn; like Mathematics being compulsory to be counted in Best of Four to pursue B.A. (Honours) Economics from the University. 

The procedure for admission in the University includes formation of an admission committee usually consisting of members of the Dean of Students’ Welfare (DSW) office, college principals and teacher representatives from the colleges, nominated by the Vice Chancellor. Along with it, there is also an advisory committee, which overlooks the admission process.

Each year, there is a new set of officials appointed for carrying out the process of admission, which is unstable, therefore a stable body is needed. 

The University conducts admissions for the undergraduate programmes in 63 colleges, postgraduate admissions in over 50 departments, and also M. Phil and PhD admissions. That means even if the undergraduate admissions wrap up before July, the post graduate and PhD admissions go all year round. Like right now, the admissions for postgraduate and PhD courses is still going on. 

Rasal Singh also added, “The M. Phil/ PhD admissions are still ongoing, so in the University, the admission is almost a year-long process. Hence, having a branch to exclusively deal with it is very much required.”

The admission process is likely to be headed by the Dean and other officials. However, the date for functionality and formation of the admission body hasn’t been announced.

Feature Image Credits:  Hindustan Times

Chhavi Bahmba

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Admissions

High Court asks DU’s Stand on St Stephen’s Admission Process for Christian Students

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This petition had been filed against the order, on 11th July, by a single judge dismissing the plea of the professors, challenging inclusion of Supreme Council members in the admission process.

The bench consisting of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued a notice to the Delhi University (DU), St Stephen’s College, its Supreme Council, its Principal and the University Grants Commission seeking their stand by 16th October. This comes after three professors filed a complaint against the inclusion of a member of the Supreme Council in the matters of selection of Christian students.

The Supreme Council is much more powerful than the governing body. It comprises of the clergy and members of Church of North India and also includes its nominees.

The petitioners — N P Ashley, Abhishek Singh and Nandita Narain — who are members of the college’s governing body were opposed to the alleged “interference” of the church in the admission process, claiming it was against the norms of the institute.

Including the Supreme Council would make the decisions of the governing body invalid, as it hold greater power and including its member into the selection committee could mean an unfair analysis of students who are selected. Merit would end up becoming secondary and faculty would have very limited say in the admission process.

The college that takes up its students through a rigorous entrance and interview engages in the same to filter out the most deserving candidates for the seat. This would not be possible if a Supreme Council member becomes a part as it would directly affect this process of selection.

According to their petition before the single judge, the Supreme Council, in a meeting held on 12th March, had decided to have an additional Christian member, nominated by it or the governing body, to be part of the interview panel.

(Extracts from Hindustan Times)

 

Featured Image Credits: Shawn Wilson

By Stephen Mathew

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DU to hold another Special Admission Drive

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The University of Delhi (DU) will hold a special drive for DU Admission 2019 before the 8th cut-off. Read on to find out more.

The Delhi University Committee members will hold a meeting on 20th August to decide on the status of another special drive for its student before announcing the supposedly final and 8th cut off list of the admissions for the undergraduate courses. This special drive is aimed to help the selected students in the admission process. The schedule for the special admission drive is likely to be released on August 21, 2019.

A reported by Millennium Post, there are only limited seats left across the colleges and the majority of the seats left vacant fall under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

This meeting was postponed from last week as most of the seats under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota were filled. Hence, the varsity decided to hold another meeting.

A special drive was held previously; under which students were allowed to change their category for admissions, before the release of the 6th cut off list. This was aimed at applicants who failed to report on time even after registering for online admission under the reserved category and also to fill the minority seats under the Sikh quota. However, the official data still needs to be collected on the number of students who changed their category under this drive.

The previous year, there were 10 cut-off lists in total released by the varsity. This year varsity has registered ‘over admissions’ with the addition of seats under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota. The data shows that the applications received this year amounted to over 3.67 lakhs for 64000 seats in undergraduate courses. The EWS category which had over 6000 seats saw 9091 students applying for it.

Feature Image Credits: Adithya Khanna for DU Beat

Antriksha Pathania

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Campus Central

SOL and NCWEB to Have Semester System from the Current Academic Session

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The Executive Council of the University of Delhi (DU) has approved the semester system for the School of Open Learning (SOL) and  Non-Collegiate Women Education Board (NCWEB) starting from the current academic session.

The Executive Council of DU was called on Saturday to discuss the introduction of semester system in the SOL and NCWEB, and it has decided to introduce the semester system from this academic session.

The SOL and NCWEB are currently following the aannual system in which the exams are conducted in the month of May. 

It was decided in an earlier meeting that the Choice Based Semester System (CBCS) would be introduced in these two institutions from the academic session of 2019-2020.

The semester system would enable these two verticals to be identical to regular colleges.

Some officials expressed dissent, as they felt that this move has been taken in a hurry and would affect the students who have enrolled on an annual basis as classes have begun and the study material has also been handed over.

Akansha, who is a B.Com. student in SOL, seemed disappointed and had this to say-  ”There are mainly three reasons for choosing correspondence, those who choose it for convenience and do not have time for regular classes would be pissed as this defeats the purpose and who cannot afford regular education or do not have enough marks to get onto a regular college. I am pissed.”

SOL enables the students to enrol themselves in various courses and programs without being physically present to attend classes unlike other colleges in DU.

This means that students enrolled in undergraduate honours courses will have their examinations under the Central Examination Centre, since SOL offers very few honours courses. Notifications for the schedule of examinations and filing of forms for the students of NCWEB shall be along with regular semester students. Whereas  semester exams for non-honours students would be undertaken by SOL.

The annual system only has one examination whereas the semester system has two examinations during the months of December and May.

The fee structure also varies as semester system requires fee payment to be done in two instalments unlike the annual system with single payment.

The SOL, which was founded in 1962, is one of the largest distance education institute in the country with over five lakh students in its fold, and around one and a half lakh students enrolled annually.

NCWEB, which is exclusive to women, provides weekend to females residing in the national capital.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Stephen Mathew

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Admissions

CYSS Organises Protest for Fee Reduction and Hostel Reservations

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The party members of Chathra Yuva Sangharsh Samithi (CYSS) protested in front of the Arts Faculty today. They demanded a reduction of fees and, hostel facilities for the he OBC and EWS category students.

CYSS, the student wing of Aam Aadmi Party, held a protest in the Arts Faculty. The protest began at 11:30 in the morning continued till three in the afternoon. The protest saw many party workers with banners and posters, shouting various kinds of slogans. 

The march was being led by, Delhi-region State President, Mr. Sumit Yadav. The protest was organised against the fee hike in various colleges and the lack of admissions of students of OBC students postgraduate hostels. It aldo focused on the provision of admissions to OBC and EWS category students in law and other postgraduate courses.

The University had recently increased the fee in various colleges like Mata Sundari. The lack of reservations has been an issue in the University of Delhi (DU) hostels where students are given seats on rank and vacancy basis making it impossible for students of reserved categories to secure admissions in hostels.

However, other than these issues, the issue of a young Muslim girl wanting to seek admission was also raised. 

Afshan, a postgraduate aspirant, wanted to seek admission in DU after completing her graduation from Zakhir Hussain College. She believes that she was prohibited from giving her entrance because of her name which indicated she was a Muslim. 

In addressing the gathering and DU Beat, Afshan said in her speech, translated from Hindi here- “I graduated a year back in 2018 from the University, people here say things like ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’ yet I have been struggling for two years now for getting my admission done. There was a girl in Unnao who was silenced for asking justice and that’s what they are doing to me. I wanted justice for my education and my leg shivers stating what they’ve done to me. I’ve been blackmailed and told they will ruin my documents as well. I filed a complaint, yet there is no investigation. They say they’ll abduct me. I feel shivers down my spine.” 

She later tried to get in the conference hall of the University, yet she was stopped. There were policewomen ready to tackle her. After a long quarrel, she was finally admitted in the conference hall.  

Later, DU Beat interviewed Mr. Sumit Yadav, Delhi-region State President. He stated, “DU is considered one of the best institutions in the country. All the students across the country even people from rural places of Delhi like Najafgarh choose DU because they get a great education at lower price. Now due to privatisation, they’ve increased the prizes. Our party has always been against privatisation and we’ve been raising our voices for the same.”

The various slogans shouted out were “Chhatro par ab reham, karo fees hamari kam karo ( Have some mercy on the students, reduce fees now)” and “Rehne ko awas chahiye humko Chathrawas chahiye (We need shelter to stay, we need students to have homes)”. They also had slogans critiquing the Vice Chancellor’s inability to provide adequate hostel facilities.

The Party members marched towards gate number four but were stopped by the guards and were not permitted to cross. The situation turned hostile when members tried to climb the gates and cross it over. The guards were forced to push them back. 

“We are protesting here against the fee hike in various colleges which has been implemented this year, that is from ten thousand to twenty-five thousand rupees. It deters students from poor backgrounds from courses diversity courses  as they cannot afford such high fees. We are also protesting again courses as of hostel facilities because of which students are exploited by PG owners to pay very high fees,” said Mr. Hariom Prabhakar who is the General Secretary of CYSS, while in conversation with DU Beat.

Feature Image Credits: Stephen Mathew for DU Beat

Stephen Mathew

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Chhavi Bahmba 

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