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DUTA Suggests Series of Measures to be Undertaken Amidst Covid-19 Lockdown

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Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) in recent administrative feedback has released a series of suggestive measures for the Delhi University (DU) administration to consider while tackling the academic hurdles brought on by the global pandemic.

On 14th April 2020, DUTA released an administrative feedback to DU regarding the handling of the global pandemic situation of COVID-19. In the released statement, DUTA points out the faults in the university’s semester and examination schedule, pointing out how neither was well-equipped to handle a crisis as such, leading to a collapse in the teaching semester. “The pandemic has also exposed the failure of the semester system with its tight teaching-learning and examination schedule to be able to weather any crisis such as the present.”

DUTA pointed out the problems with the online classes and e-resources provided by the university and how lacking the method is and definitely not at a capacity to replace or make up for in-class lectures any time soon. Given our student demography, it is important to recognize that a large section of students come from outside Delhi and that an equally significant number comes from underprivileged backgrounds, and the environment at their homes is unlikely to be conducive for learning. The University and colleges have so far not been able to collect data on how many students have accessibility to the e-resources and lectures shared by teachers. Given the diverse population of students to whom the University of Delhi caters to and the student strength, the means and modes of assessment and examination adopted in the context of the lockdown should ensure that the solutions offered do not further marginalize the already marginalized sections of students or create a situation where large sections of students lose out due to the circumstances they face,” the feedback statement read. They also pointed out the fact that most students who had gone back home during the mid-semester break (which had included Holi) had not carried their textbooks and reading materials with them.

DUTA, therefore, concluded that online examinations for the university would not be viable options, owing to the lack of resources and inaccessibility to many students of the university.

DUTA has offered the following suggestions to the administration:

  • Examinations to be held only after teaching days lost during quarantine period are recovered, with priority being given to final year students. DUTA suggested readjusting the holidays for summer accordingly.
  • Final year students should be provided with provisional certificates with details of their SGPA and CGPA.
  • If opened in a phased manner, colleges should give priority to final year students with exams being held 15 days after re-opening.
  • Schedule of the new academic year be adjusted according to the course requirements of current batches.
  • Considering shifting the examinations of UG level courses to an annual mode, in order to properly equip the administration for a similar crisis in the future.
  • Universities should hold meetings of all statutory bodies in order to prepare for dealing with the situation. Students should be kept informed of all measures being taken, even if they’re temporary.

“In the case of the University of Delhi, which caters to lakhs of students, we firmly believe that attempts must be made to ensure that (i) students enrolled in regular programmes be taught and evaluated as per the laid down framework (ii) essential classroom teaching to SOL and NCWEB be completed as per the requirements and commitment of these programmes and (iii) conduct of online centralized examinations be ruled out completely as the University neither has the infrastructure nor the capability of providing/ensuring level playing field in terms of accessibility and ease to the diverse student population it caters to,” the feedback read.

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Shreya Juyal

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UGC Likely to Extend Deadline for Research

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With libraries and educational institutions shutting down across the country due to Covid-19, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is expected to extend the submission deadlines for research work by six months.

Keeping in mind the problems faced by research scholars in undertaking research work in the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns, former Executive Council members of University of Delhi (DU) have appealed to the UGC to postpone the research submission date by at least six months. “In the current extraordinary situation of crisis, it is not possible to carry out research work since consultation of an expert is required and library resources are essential as all references/books are not available as e-resources”, they added.

Most of the research scholars were expected to submit their thesis in a stipulated time as set up by the Ordinance of the University and was due in March-April. However in the second week of March during the semester break, the university was declared closed till 31st March followed by a complete lockdown in the country.

The Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) in a letter to the UGC Chairman, D P Singh wrote, “Many PhD and MPhil research scholars have been enabled to conduct research in this period. Absence of laboratory and library facilities except for select few e-resources have left scholars largely resourceless. They have not been able to do any field work too.” They also pointed out that the pandemic has affected the mind frame of the research scholars and disrupted the pace of their work.

“We request you to take cognizance of the difficult circumstances and issue instructions to universities to give an extension of six months to all scholars across the country who were due to submit their thesis/dissertations or hold their pre-submission seminars,” they added.

With multiple requests being made for the extension, the UGC Chairman stated that a seven-member committee had been formed to discuss changes in the academic calendar due to the lockdown and that the next session would be started right after it is lifted. He asserted on avoiding any delays thereafter in the examinations as well.

Taking into account the uncertainty in the current situation, UGC is likely to extend the research deadlines and an official announcement is expected to be made soon.

Feature Image Credits: Zee News
Feature Image Caption: DU appeals to UGC for extending the deadline for submitting research by 6 months.

Aishwaryaa Kunwar

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DUTA Writes To DU VC Regarding Delay in Salaries

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Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA)  wrote to Professor Yogesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor (VC), Delhi University (DU) regarding the delay in the payment of salaries to teachers working on ad hoc/guest basis.

On 6th April 2020, DUTA wrote to Professor Yogesh Tyagi, VC, DU regarding the delay in the payment of salaries to the teachers of the university who are working on ad hoc/guest basis. Though DUTA thanked the administration for the steps that the university has taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the series of notifications for the payment of salaries to employees – teaching and non-teaching and staff under CAS / SAP / DSA Scheme, honorarium to guest faculty and fellowships to project staff, researchers and fellows, they drew attention to the delay in the payment of salaries of ad hoc and guest teachers. The delay of payment of salaries has remained to be a pressing issue plaguing the university’s temporary teaching staff and especially in the ongoing pandemic, it is turning fatal for money and gravely jeopardising their financial situation. According to sources, the departments had sent approvals regarding the extension of the term of ad hoc teachers and the appointment of guest lectures, but due to delay in these approvals, the temporary faculty is now facing a denial of financial security.

“It seems that Departments are still awaiting necessary approvals from the University,” DUTA wrote, as revealed by a released press statement. “It had been brought to our notice that ad-hoc teachers have either been paid salaries till 29 February or till 20 March 2020. Departments had sent recommendations for the extension of the term of these teachers and are still awaiting approvals. As far as guest teachers are concerned, approvals to their appointments are yet to be received by Departments even though these teachers have been teaching since the beginning of the semester. Heads of Departments are hesitant to fill the required information in the form sent out in the absence of these approvals. Please note that this delay in completing required formalities have denied financial security to these teachers. Salaries and honorarium are often delayed for months together but a delay in the current situation is causing much hardship to teachers.”

Before the shut down of the university, the organisation had called for an indefinite strike of DU teachers to protest against the lack of job security for ad hocs and guest lecturers who were denied job security.

Rajesh Jha, EC Member, said, “There is no nationale to withhold their salary, when they have been working hard for our university despite their uncertain situation. They are still attending the students. Even the central and state governments have come out with the policy of no salary cut during the period of lockdown. The university and college administration must release their salaries immediately.”

Vice Chancellor Professor Yogesh Tyagi is yet to comment on the released statement by DUTA.

Feature Image Credits: Official DU Website

Shreya Juyal

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DU SOL Postpones Annual Examinations for B.com and B.A Courses

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Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (DU SOL) has postponed the annual mode examinations for the students of B.Com and B.A. (Prog) courses due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

An official notice on the DU SOL website, uploaded on 25th March declares a postpone in the annual examinations of B.Com and B.A.(Prog) courses. As per the previous date sheet the examinations for B.Com and B.A (Prog) courses, were respectively scheduled from 4th and 5th April which now stands withdrawn till any further notice. The students are advised to regularly check the official website for the upload of the revised date sheet.

The official notice on the website reads, “In accordance with the office order No. F.No. Estab.II(i)/330/COVID-19/M/2020 dated 19th March, 2020, the examination of B .Com. (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 4th April, 2020 and B.A. (Prog.) (Annual Mode) scheduled to be held from 5th April, 2020 stands withdrawn. The date-sheet for both the above examination will be notified later. All concerned are requested to please stay connected through website for latest updates.”

Riyansh Gupta, a first-year student of B.Com (Prog) course, “We already have to cope with the first and second semester simultaneously and further delays are just increasing the burden. But, in this current situation delay was obvious and much needed so we can’t do anything except for just waiting for the situation to get better.”

He further informed of DU SOL of not being very responsible for passing important information. He said, “One other thing is that DU SOL does not know how to communicate with its students, every time anything happens, DU SOL is the last to respond plus the official site is also not that good.”

Feature Image credits : DU Beat Archives

Kriti  Gupta

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DU Pledges Its Staffers’ One-Day Salary Towards Coronavirus Relief Fund

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The University of Delhi (DU) has pledged its staffers’ one day salary to the PM relief fund in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  

The University of Delhi (DU) has decided to pledge its staffers’ one-day worth salary to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) that has been set up in the wake of the Coronavirus spread, in an attempt to fight to the pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) in India is a public raised fund that does not get any budgetary compensation from the government. It was set up to provide relief and support for people in cases of natural and man-made disasters.

The PMNRF along with Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-Cares)- set up specifically during the ongoing coronavirus spread- are the two citizen-funded initiatives that have been providing relief to the economically weaker sections during the pandemic. On Monday, 30th April 2020, the University released a statement where this donation was proposed.

Along with this initiative, the University has apparently formed a task force in an attempt to take stock of the ongoing crisis that has arisen due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. This task force would be coming up with recommendations regarding academic and administrative responsibilities of the university in these trying times. The University has also stated that excessive amounts of financial resources are going to be needed by the centre to deal with the upcoming circumstances and provide relief to help its more vulnerable citizens in this crisis.

“The University has proposed to contribute one day’s salary of teaching and non-teaching staff to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF),” it said in a statement. The statement also revealed that a mobile application is currently in development so that employees who wish to contribute more to the PMNRF to help the situation can do so.

In the aforementioned context, the statement further read that the university is also making use of the two recently integrated apps- Google Classes and Google Hangouts- which can be used by the faculty and students to continue with the academic schedule online.

The University has also stated that it has made arrangements to provide all basic amenities to students staying in hostels, and that the mess facility is operational in all of the hostels maintained by the University. Four medical centres- The World University Services (WUS) Health Centre at North Campus, The WUS Health Centre at South Campus, East Delhi (Dr BR Ambedkar College) and West Delhi (Shivaji College)- have also been made available that have medical professionals, paramedics and ambulance around the clock.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 Shreya Juyal

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DU To Establish New Women’s College; Invites Name Suggestions

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Delhi University (DU) is taking suggestions for the name of the new women’s college that will be established in Fatehpur Beri village on Gram Sabha land located in South West Delhi.

Delhi University’s upcoming women’s college will be established specially for women from rural areas belonging to the outskirts of Delhi and NCR. The college will be constructed in Fatehpur Beri village, and the Varsity has formulated a special committee to recommend suitable names for the newly proposed college.

The committee held a meeting on 11th March, and the agenda for the same was to invite suggestions from the public for probable names for the proposed college. Delhi University issued a notice on its official website that mentions the details for soliciting name suggestions for the women’s college. Name recommendations may be shared with the committee via [email protected] within 15 days, that is, till March 26.

After a careful selection of the name for the upcoming college, the committee will further work towards devising a proper structure for the college, which includes the courses to be offered, teaching and non-teaching staff, admission procedures, and other spheres of information.

The 40 bigha land was recently allotted to the University by the Government of NCT, Delhi, for construction of the women’s college. This educational institution will essentially help women from the outskirts of Delhi.

With the recent declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the Varsity has suspended classes, conferences, and other events till 31st March. It was notified on the official website of Delhi University that study material will be made available through its website. All internal assessments will be held after 31st March. These preventive measures were taken by the University to drastically reduce footfall on the campus to avoid any plausible conditions that may lead to the spread of the Coronavirus. However, the site is still available for sending name suggestions.

Feature image credits- DU Beat Archives

Suhani Malhotra

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12 DU Colleges Salary-Less for Over Two Months

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12 colleges of the University of Delhi haven’t paid their teaching and non-teaching staff salary for two months now.

12 colleges in the University of Delhi have withheld salary from their teaching and non-teaching staff for two months now. The colleges whose funds have been withheld are Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education & Sports Science, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Shaheed Raj GuruCollege, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Bhagini Nivedita College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Maharaja Agrasen College, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Maharishi Balmiki College of Education, and Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Science. The funds have been withheld by Delhi Government because the colleges haven’t notified their governing bodies, approval for which, they claim, is awaited from the university.

The salaries of not just the faculty but also of sanitation workers, contractual labourers, and other non-teaching staff have also been held up. “It seems we will not be able to pay salaries even from 1st April.” Principal Hem Chand Jain of DDU college, told The Times of India. Another principal has said that theyare yet to get a concrete response from Delhi government on when and how the issue would be resolved but revealed that they had been told thatrepresentatives would be meeting Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi on 17th March regarding the matter. This information has been confirmed by a DU official. In response to the issue, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said that the government-aided colleges had been doing a lot of “illegal work” because “without governing bodies in place the colleges can’t function”.

It has also been revealed that the University’s Executive Council approving the names at its sitting on 13th March. A DU official told Times of India that the AAP government flouted norms in selecting some of governing board nominees. The official alsoargued that in the pattern of assistance, there isnothing that states that the government is allowed to without funds from an institution that doesn’t have a governing body.

The staff of these 12 institutions steadfastly believe that the shortcomings of the DU administration in regards to solving this matter are highly political, and a fight between “two political parties”.

For now, it seems highly unlikely that the issue would be solved anytime soon.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Shreya Juyal

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Amidst Heavy Rain, Ankit Tiwari Concludes Nexus

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Ankit Tiwari performed on the last day, as heavy rain engulfed Nexus, the annual cultural fest of Sri Venkateswara College. However, the star night was delayed and issues arose, even after strict security. 

On 29th February, the final night of Nexus’20, Sri Venkateswara’s Annual Cultural Festival, everyone was excited for the fest to be concluded with the performance of renowned singer and songwriter, Ankit Tiwari. The performance which was arranged to be at 5 pm, was extremely delayed due to unexpected showers and thunderstorm that ensued in the evening.

 Before the performance began, the huge crowd which had gathered to listen to the artist, shuffled back and forth between the performance ground and the college building to take shelter from the excessive downpour. The rain kept everyone on their feet, and the muddy grounds were a dangerous territory for people who had dressed their best for the fest.

There was extremely strict security maintained for the star night. Many items were prohibited to be carried. There were staff teachers, and administrators on the main gate as well as inside the barricade. However, the heavy rain tested all.
During the beginning of the performance, the sound system switched offmid-song due to technical errors, causing a ruckus.

A student inside the barricade, told DU Beat, “The issue was that there were a lot of people who wanted in, and as they were trying to enter photographers were getting shoved. Barricade did have administrators and College staff inside to see if everything is okay.”

Despite of security being maintained, the large number of crowd was a test for all. Female photographers present at the venue faced harassment by other photographers and Tiwari’s team while doing their job, with people pushing and shoving others around to get a barricade entry, photographers got shoved and hit as the crowds around the barricade became unmanageable. However, there were administrators present inside the barricade for safety of students.

A female photographer covering the event, in conditions of anonymity said, “The people with Ankit Tiwari told me that if you want a picture then you need to come to his room. As I was the only female photographer, the other male photographers told me to go to the back.”

These events occurring mostly in isolation and behind closed curtains clearly didn’t dampen any spirits as the crowd wholeheartedly enjoyed after the singer arrived on the stage. Tiwari sang some of his greatest hits, like Sun Raha Hai Na Tu, and also invited members of the audience to join him on the stage as he performed, hyping up the crowd. The event ended at 8 pm at last, with rains showing no signs of satiating. People ran helper-skelter to take cover and rush towards the closest metro stations wading through the muddy roads while people struggled to exit the campus due to the excessive crowd.

Rajat Sharma, President, Students’ Union, said, “Day 3 of Nexus was going well even after the heavy rains but some incident occured between the authority, photographers and delhi police which was very unfortunate to happen. I being unaware of the complete situation from all the three sides cannot give my verdict over right and wrong but anything of this sort is obviously not good for tge reputation of the college and if there was any misconduct I am extremely sorry for the same taking the responsibility and blame wherever required.”

However, in Sri Venkateswara College, Nexus, the annual cultural fest is organised by Fine Arts Association (FAA) as well.

Hrithik, President, FAA, said, “Keeping in mind about conditions prevailing , we tried our level best to assure strict security and efficient management . Entry inside the college on the three days was strictly provided to only those who had the valid ID cards . Our officials were present at the main gate and near the barricade to make sure there was no issue .
We appreciate all our media partners including all the videographers and photographers who stood by even in the unpleasant weather conditions to cover our event . My team and I would also like to thank our enthusiastic crowd which helped to make Nexus 2020 a grand success.”

The star night was memorable for all. The pleasant chilly weather soon washed away everyone’s trouble.

Nexus ended on a chilly note, yet witnessed warmth on all three days. The college was filled with iconic Bollywood mementos, the decor was remarkable with them being able to put a ship, owing to the Pirate in all of us, between the College. Nexus, unlike other fests, is organised not just by the Students’ Union, but the Fine Arts Association, as well. The entire college perfectly imbibed the theme of “Lights, Camera, Nexus.”

Feature Image Credits: Manav Ahuja for DU Beat

Shreya Juyal

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 Satviki Sanjay

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Student Brandishes Gun in Hansraj College

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On 25th February, a fight between two groups in Hansraj College took a violent turn, with brandishing of violent weapons, posing even more questions about security inside college campuses.

 On 25th February, a fight took place between two groups at the Lovers’ Point in Hansraj College. The altercation consisted of a few students graduated from Delhi University (DU) and students of Satyawati College, DU. Amidst the barrel, one of the students took out a katta (Indian handmade gun) and threatened the other party. However, they soon dispersed, following which, a large number of police personnel were seen in and around the College. Till now, the administration has not commented on the matter, and there is no official notification of an investigation being conducted in this regard.

On 26th February, the students of Hansraj College, collected in order to protest against the administration’s silence on the matter as well as against the rising communalism in the country. The students marched from the hostel gate of the College to the main gate, where they addressed a gathering and talked about the issues plaguing the country.

A student who organised the protest, in conditions of anonymity told DU Beat, “The administration did not even let us make posters inside the college, let alone protest inside. This protest was combined, about college being a safe space, the administration giving us our agency and us being allowed to use it properly and also to throw light on how the country’s being divided for political gains and people are suffering.” “It is also shameful that we’re hosting a fest in such times.” they added.

An important thing to note is that Hansraj College had only recently installed metal detectors at all entrances. This incident also raises some very important questions about how safe college spaces really are, something that college administrative bodies really need to answer.

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat

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DU to Award 1 lakh for Writing Papers on Kashmiri Culture

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In order to embrace the Kashmiri culture, University of Delhi (DU), announces award of 1 lakh to students writing papers on the said topic.

Yogesh Tyagi, The Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, announced on Tuesday, 18th February,  an award of 1 lakh to any student who researches and publishes a paper on the Kashmiri culture. This followed, the first event organised by the Varsity showcasing Kashmiri folk-music namely “Meeras-e-Kashmir”, under the banner of “Cultural Flavours of India”. Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha Veteran, and Amitabh Mattoo, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Professor, were guests at this event.

The Congress veteran discussed the essence of Kashmiri culture, heritage and the rich pursuit of traditional knowledge by various prominent saints from the valley. “Never give up faith in your culture. We may be surrounded by corruption and violence everywhere, but we have to maintain ourselves. It is only then we will fulfil our potential,” the former MP said.

Singh shared several anecdotes from Kashmir, further adding “It is important for us to emphasise the diversity and inclusiveness of Indian culture and never get into exclusivism mode”. He also talked of the time when Sufis came to Kashmir. “There were places in Srinagar where people would pray namaz on the first floor and do aarti on the ground floor. That was the synoptic philosophy particular to Kashmir, which is now shattered,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor of DU too talked about India being the hub of cultural diversity across the world. He suggested, “being the premier institution of India, the onus is on us in academia to appreciate the importance of geographical location, natural beauty, culture, cuisine, tradition, literature of Kashmir”.

Mattoo, JNU Professor,  talked of ways to strengthen our ideas of coexistence. “The first is the history and idea of Kashmiri Shaivism, the second Sufi tradition and finally Kashmiriyat. The recovery of the tradition of Meeras-e-Kashmir is the recovery of pluralism, co-existence and diversity, which will form the bedrock of the idea of India,” he further added.

Feature Image Credits: Easymetrip

Aditi Gutgutia

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