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DU Student Fakes Own Kidnapping

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Late 6th October night, a father received a purported video of his daughter on WhatsApp with her hands and legs tied with repeated cries of “mujhe chhor do”. A case was registered in the Adarsh Nagar police station.

A first-year correspondence student from Delhi University (DU) left her home in Adarsh Nagar on Sunday to attend classes at a DU college, but instead, she went to Purana Quila with her friends. She lied to her father over the phone stating she was outside her college. He demanded to show him the college building on a video call. She panicked and hung up after which she avoided her parents’ calls and spent the night ahead at her friend’s house. 

Fearing that her parents would discover her bunking college, and scold her for the same, the 18-year-old orchestrated her own kidnapping. Late Sunday night, the father received a purported video of his daughter on WhatsApp with her hands and legs tied with repeated cries of “mujhe chhor do” (leave me). A case under IPC Section 365 (kidnapping) was registered in the Adarsh Nagar police station. The girl’s phone was put under technical surveillance, while teams were formed to look for her. 

Her parents received a call from a passerby in Old Delhi’s Ballimaran area on Monday stating that their daughter was crying on the street. However, she had asked the man to call them up. 

While questioning, she alleged to the police that she was kidnapped by four-five men on Sunday evening who took her to a jungle. “She couldn’t point out the location and said that at night when the men slept off, she escaped. When she was prodded a bit more, she confessed that she had made up the story,” said DCP (North West) Vijayanta Arya to The Indian Express. The woman made a video of herself in distress with hands and legs tied with the help of a friend. 

A similar incident took place in Mumbai, March 2018 when a Class IX student faked his kidnapping and sexual assault after bunking to escape punishment from his parents and school. 

Feature Image Credits: Metronation

Anandi Sen

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Students of Hindu College Protest Against New Hostel Criteria

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Hostel dwellers of Hindu College protested in front of the Principal’s office against the new stricter criteria of attendance and GPA to be maintained to retain hostel accommodation in the second and third year by residents.

Recently, the newly-elected Students’ Union of Hindu College, led the protest against the hostel administration, as allegedly the college administration was threatening them by making calls to their families, and disciplinary action in terms of electricity cuts was imposed on the students.

The Union claims this was a protest to demand their rights. It was also said that these stricter rules were just to discourage the students to avail hostel facilities. The students also believe that the increase in fees of hostel facilities is just to pave way for privatisation of hostel in the coming years.

Delhi University (DU) Hostel for outstation students, who cannot afford the expensive PG life that Delhi has to offer, works as a suitable alternative. However, one must question the relevance of this protest.

Two years ago, the College Hostel administration had decided that only those who get above 6.0 CGPA in the Arts stream and 6.5 in the Science stream and who have above 67 per cent attendance will be able to retain their hostel accommodation.

Last year the it had been increased from 6 to 6.5 for the Arts stream and from 6.5 to 7.0 for science stream and the attendance criteria had also been increased to 75 per cent.

Many students were affected by this criterion, as it was stricter and student weren’t made aware of this earlier. However, no immediate protest took place.

There are few arguments that show this protest as a political move than a liberal one.

A Hindu College student who lives in the boys’ hostel, under conditions of anonymity told DU Beat, “The protest is not for the rights of the students. As the students of this year were well aware of the new rules as mentioned in our undertaking. The GPA and attendance criteria were mentioned.”

The Statement of undertaking is a legal binding document that is made signed by each hostel dweller. It is done so to make the students accountable for the conditions they have agreed on to avail hostel facilities.

As all the students had signed the undertaking in their complete senses, without any use of force, their right to protest against the rules is invalid legally.

Other than this, what is more astounding is the fact that when these rules were first implemented a year back, no protest or resistance took place, neither by the hostel dwellers nor the student union. The sudden need for protest raises questions of the intention of the protest.

Whether the protest was necessary or not, one must not forget that the hostel facility is the only way many outstation students can afford to study in DU.

For the update on the protest that took place, another student in anonymity told DU Beat, “There was only one protest by the newly elected Students’ Union and the other inmates. It was just really a one-evening-thing, and was resolved (called off) when they finally discussed the issue with the Principal.”

 

 

Feature Image Credits:  Yaksh Handa for DU beat

 

Chhavi Bahmba 

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DUB Speak

Student-Teacher Relations in College vs School

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The adrenalin rush on the first day of college, to the jitters on the first day of fests, college gives you a taste of it all. But how different is the teacher-student equation in college from the equation in school? Let’s find out.

For most of us, the transition from school to colleges has been fascinating at the very least, as we learn to navigate through the freedom in the college corridors. After twelve years of getting discipline ingrained into every cell of our body, college sweeps in like fresh air. This evolution from schools to colleges impacts our relationships too- be it friendships, or teacher-student relationships. While our friendships also change as we enter the Delhi University (DU), there is a stark difference in the way our relationships build with professors in DU.

In schools, we were used to the everyday prayers and good morning greetings as soon as the teacher entered the class. In DU, though, the obligatory “good morning, ma’am/sir” rituals bid you farewell.

A prime characteristic of the teacher-student relationship in school life was the presence of this teachers’ pet, no matter the school or the subject. The child who would always butter up the teacher and volunteer for all the work (and who we all were secretly annoyed with) to get those extra two marks in exams. However, in college, barely any of that works. “Forget favouritism from professors, they teach and that’s it. That buttering doesn’t work here,” says Leha Biswas, a student at Lady Shri Ram College.

In schools, we always had this one teacher who would make it their mission to personally be updated with what is happening in their students’ lives. Through summons to the staff room to hushed conversations in the class, this teacher knew more about you than your classmates did. At the same time, you could somehow always count on them to get you out of those principal’s detentions. In college, though, the relationship cools down. “I have the coolest teachers, so we have a professor who would be leaving soon, we told him that we would miss him. His response was the best – “Oh come on, it’s too soon to miss me.”

We all were also very used to the teachers scolding us for not finishing our classwork, for not submitting our assignments, for not faring well in exams, for not being quiet in class, for not… you get the point! School was indeed a second home where sometimes the only right way to behave was how your superiors wanted you to. Coming to college did make us all realise it is okay to let go sometimes. Moreover, the professors don’t mind a few mass bunks, which was a sin back in school. Harsh Singh, a first-year student at Shri Ram College of Commerce said, “In just the first week of college we bunked a class, casually walked our way to Hudson lane for lunch! I guess this sounds quite normal, but for people coming fresh from school where all sorts of fire alarms would go off and the school would come charging at you with tear gas bombs, lasers, and tranquillising darts, even if you step out of your classroom in a free period, I must say that there is definitely some contrast here”.

Teachers at DU have an ornamented CV, jewelled with achievements and degrees. Well, it would be tough to generalise them, but, if you love your course then they would make you sing. Nevertheless, they would make you yawn as well! They don’t restrict you to be glued to your books – they want you to participate (but not too much!). They address every taboo for which you were shush-ed in school. They know that their students are adults and dialogues form a part eventually. Be it the menace of the education system or random talks, casual to heated discussions are pretty usual.

And let’s address the elephant in the room; they do know your craze for the much-awaited fests. And hold on for a second, brushing off the dust from books ten days before semester examinations, well that is not a secret, professors know that deal! The attendance fiasco, although, remains a challenge as getting their sympathy over Extra Curricular Activities is a hard nut to crack.

Where school provided comfort, college provides novelty. Nighat, a first-year student at  Aryabhatta College says, “In school, we were attached to the teachers on an emotional level. In college, we can relate to our professors on a spiritual level.”

Both relationships have their own charms. Familiarising ourselves with the new environment should not make us forget our roots. And as students, it is for us to cherish our school teachers and look forward to our college professors!

 

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat

 

Priyanshi Banerjee

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Satviki Sanjay

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Campus Central

DU Introduces 5 New Online Courses

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted approval to the University of Delhi (DU) to start five online courses, that would be made public from January 2020. 

On 1st October 2019, the University of Delhi got the green light to conduct five online undergraduate courses by the UGC from January 2020 by the School of Open Learning (SoL). The courses provided by DU will be made made available for five subjects: B.A. Programme, B.A. (Hons.) English, B.A. (Hons.) Political Science, B.Com, and B. Com (Hons.). 

 An official from UGC spoke to NDTV  and said that SOL will upload the learning materials on its website by November this year and start enrolling students in the program from January 2020. The courses will be made available for students in India as well as those abroad, and are being introduced to attract global students to study at the University of Delhi. 

The letter of intent (LoI) was issued by the UGC to the university on 16th September 2019, as reported by DNA India. 

“These courses actually belong to the School of Open Learning (SOL) but by January they will become online courses and will be available all around the world,” a senior official was quoted by a news daily. 

“One of the officials of the Delhi University said that the proposal of online courses was put forward by 22 universities but UGC gave permission to only four universities out of which the Delhi University is one,” the report said.

Dr CS Dubey, Director of the Campus of SOL, said that the online courses will be available not just in India, but students from any country can take admission in the courses. Earlier, Dubey had also said that the DU is planning to conduct 30 per cent of its exams online in a phased manner.

Students too appreciated this. Sabaa, a second year B.A. (Hons.) English said, “I think it is a great opportunity being offered by the University. Not only is it good for integrating DU in the global educational structure, every year the cut-offs become impossible to achieve. This way, those who didn’t clear the cut-offs or are outstation students without the means to move to Delhi for studying, can also enrol in the University. “

Students can look for further details at du.ac.in, the university’s official website. 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives.

Shreya Juyal

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Bazinga

Bazinga: DU to Reintroduce Mid-Semester Examinations

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The administration of the University of Delhi
(DU) has announced the reintroduction
of mid-semester papers, which will be
held immediately following the end of the
University’s sanctioned mid-semester break
in October.

After continual speculation, Professor
Yogesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor, DU, has
declared that the University would be
reintroducing mid-semester exams for all
papers across every undergraduate course
provided by the University. The exams
would commence immediately following
the end of the University’s mid-semester
break in October, in accordance with the
Academic Council (AC) of the University. The date sheet for the mid-semester exams will be released on 1st October 2019 via the University’s official website. The changes in the academic calendar were sanctioned on 26th September 2019. The press release states that the administration acknowledges that the unannounced decision may come as a shock to the students and faculty. However, it clarifies that the decision is for the welfare of the students, in an attempt to mitigate the stress of a singular exam per paper at the end of a semester.
Though the Varsity’s action aims at making the academic year less stressful for the students, the faculty of the University is less than happy with the decision. Professor Angad Mehta, from the Department of Economics at Hindu College, says, “This is a rash decision on behalf of the administration. The professors were completely unprepared for this decision; now we have to rush the syllabus.” Another professor from Indraprastha College for Women said that it burdens the students rather than “lessen the pressure, as the administration wished for.”
Students of DU have mixed reactions. Aarti Bhaskar, a B.Sc. (Honours) Mathematics student from Daulat Ram College, stated, “This decision is honestly a godsend. Our entire GPA is currently dependent on one exam at the end of the year. This way, we have a way to compensate.” A student from Lady Shri Ram College said, “I’m glad that the decision was introduced as a way to lessen the burden on students during exam season, but the University’s decision of taking such a drastic step suddenly has blind-sided us. I’m a part of multiple ECA societies, and trainings and practices take up a lot of my time, and I’m lagging on my studies. Now I have to rush to complete them in just a matter of weeks when I would have had at least two months prior to this change of rules.”
The decision has been contested by the students’ unions of colleges like Hansraj College, Hindu College, Miranda House, and Motilal Nehru College. DU Beat tried contacting the Registrar, but he was unavailable for a statement.
Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat.

Shreya Juyal

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DU Employees Suffer As the Delhi Government Fails to Pay Salaries

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Over 2,700 teaching and non-teaching staff of 12 Delhi University (DU) colleges did not get salaries for the last two months as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government continues to withhold release of funds over non-formation of Governing Bodies (GB).

Out of the 28 DU colleges, 16 get only 5% of their funds from the Delhi Government while 12 receive 100% funding.

The GBs, comprising members nominated by the university and the Delhi Government, take all decisions for the smooth functioning of a college, including the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff.

Some Principals of various colleges across DU wondered why the GB term could not be extended. “In the past, the term has been extended for almost six months. It can also be done now until the process of formation of the Governing Body is completed,” said a Principal whose college receives 100% funding. “The government should understand that we have to pay salary to the staff and their arrears.”

Dhananjoy Shaw, Principal of Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences (IGIPESS), said the fund crunch has affected student activities as well. “We haven’t been able to pay salaries to our staff for two months. Since some student activities had been planned before, we are executing them at the lowest possible cost,” he said, adding that managing day-to-day expenses will be difficult from October.

A contrary argument came to the fore when an official in the Delhi Government said that DU is insisting on not forming GBs in these colleges. “It is clear that there is an attempt to shield colleges from accountability and intent to continue corruption,” the official said.

“I am able to manage our daily expenditure somehow as this is not my only income source. But there are many employees whose day-to-day expenditures depend completely on their salary. Due to the ego clashes between the Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi, and the AAP Government, it is the employee who is suffering.” another DU official grieves. 

In a protest organised by Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), outside Vidhan Sabha on Friday, staff members said that “uncertainty in getting salaries has led to crisis” in these 12 colleges. “The worst-hit are the teaching and non-teaching staff working on ad hoc or contract basis,” DUTA said in a statement.

Delhi University College Karamchari Union (DUCKU) plan to sit on strike on 1st and 3rd October. 

The Vice-Chancellor and Arvind Kejriwal did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Feature Image Credits: DNA India

 

Bhagyashree Chatterjee 

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Faculty of Law Cancels Mid-Semester Break

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The Faculty of Law recently suspended the mid-semester break for its students due to the delay in commencement of the session creating outrage among the students. Read on to find out more.

The Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (DU) was established in the year 1924. The department operates through three centres within its campus, namely, Campus Law Centre, Law Centre-I and Law Centre-II and has about 7000 students at present including LL.B., LL.M., and PhD students

On 24th September 2019, the Law Faculty published a notice stating that due to the delay in commencement of classes of LL.B., the Mid Semester break stands cancelled. Further, it also said that the teaching session of the Faculty of Law will continue up to 30th  November 2019, reducing the number of preparation leaves provided to students for semester examinations.

According to sources, the department called off the Mid-Sem break last year as well. This is a sensitive time to terminate the seven days break provided to students as many of them have made non-refundable reservations for going back home but are stuck now as they cannot skip classes.

Amarjeet Kumar Singh, a student of the Faculty of Law said, “This information is true. And I would like to say about this that it is like a punishment to the students for which they have done nothing wrong. But in reality, the department is solely responsible for the delay. Even last year the mid-term break got cancelled/suspended for the same reason”

Kartik Saini, another student of the Faculty of Law said, “This has become a regular practice now. Last year, the same happened & I think it is followed every year. As with other colleges and institutes (Master’s Course) of DU, the session should start by 20th July.  As per the official notice, our classes started on 10th August but in reality, they actually started on 26th August causing a delay in other things. Not only the students & teachers get affected with this but it also leads to violation of BCI (Bar Council of India) norms which have decided the minimum number of classes for each semester. In fact, the Law Faculty is the place where unlawful practice prevails & rules are not followed. Administration condition is pathetic.”

 

Feature Image Credits: The Law Faculty, Delhi University

 

Avni Dhawan

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Pretentious DU Review

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Delhi University (DU) seems to be the dream of almost every kid, cramming up all possible books to fetch a seat, performing all sorts of rituals for the sake of one’s dream college. The competition goes on and on. But is the DU craze justified?

 

  • North Campus Elitism

The ‘colony’ of colleges is a peculiar attribute of DU, thanks to Rang-De-Basanti, maybe that is why the north campus hype prances in its (hyped) glory? The overemphasis of the north campus, somewhere down the line, suggests the underlying elitism. While if one cares to hover their eyes over the map of Delhi, other colleges like Lady Shri Ram, Sri Venkateshwara College, Gargi College, etc. also exist. And do we even need to acquaint you with the ‘North Campus vs. South Campus’ tussle? You know the story from numerous YouTube videos. We get it North Campus, you have Virgin Tree in Hindu College and Kamla Nagar’s momos but that’s all there is.

  •  Study Culture

The infamous study culture of DU is not a secret. Many condemn that DU has only been successful in imparting degrees, but has failed when it comes to imparting knowledge. “A student from Calcutta University will take tuitions, will study for umpteen number of hours, while a DU student will pick up their books a week before the examinations. And at the end of the day, score more than us.” says, a pass out from Calcutta University who wished to be anonymous. The prominent DU degree is just a facade, while colleges like NLU and IITs provide high placements to their toppers, DU provides just boasting rights as placements at DU does not exist, well except for SRCC.

  • Infrastructure

Panting fans, ceilings which give a ‘near-to-death’ experience (we’re pointing at you Daulat Ram College), roads which remain under construction even after you clear all your backs and a master’s degree, washrooms (we’ll leave it to your imagination), aren’t these a class apart? (Note the heavy sarcasm). The infrastructure of DU is a different story altogether, a story which is poles apart from the preconceived image of DU. A DU aspirant with ambition in eyes is often met with broken benches, more broken than their hopes.

  •  Classes and Timetables

The classes have a scenario worth noticing! Classes are packed with over 100 students, which look more like a poultry farm than a classroom. Maybe it is our time to shout – “DU, is this a fish market?” The given timetable and the actual timetable never lie parallel, the once jam-packed timetable, at the end of the day, is nothing but a series of lectures which were cancelled because Monica ma’am went for vacation and college forgot to hire a guest teacher. You can also witness the deadly shift of classes, the 11:30 a.m. class can become a 3:15 p.m. class keeping you in college that longer.

  •  Societies (oh, the drama!)

The society hype stands above all other self-acclaimed accolades of DU. The incessant number of forms filled, rounds of interviews and the introductory workshops. Maybe getting into an MNC is easier! Questions like, “Will you be able to sacrifice food, classes, attendance, relationships?” give you a major existential crisis. Sadly sometimes, students dedicate their entire college life for getting into a society, not because they actually want to be in it, but because they want to be a part of the hype. I guess you know which societies we’re thinking about!

 

  • The Election Season

If you felt that Delhi has an aggressive winter season, you never visited DU in the election season. Elections lean more towards littering, unnecessary Bharat Mata Ki Jai chants, brochure distribution and more cancelled classes than the actual purpose of elections, voting and student empowerment. Remember the “koi bhi dikkat ho toh bhai ko batana” (if you face any problem, let your brother know about it) you got from some seniors? It was for this day!

It’s time that DU pulls up its socks. The actual-DU and the glorified-DU are two different worlds! As different as the world we live in and Neverland. Like the cut-offs, even the DU standards should have inflated.

 

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

 

Priyanshi Banerjee

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 Chhavi Bahmba

[email protected]

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DU’s SOL Shifts to Shift 2.0

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With approximately 1.5 lac students enrolling every year in the various courses provided by the University, Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) aims to offer correspondence courses with no mandatory attendance against the regular courses of the University. 

The continual shortage of classrooms, faculties, and other facilities has continued to hinder the progress of the University and its students. Only recently, after switching to the semester mode of education, SOL is set to conduct all classes on Saturdays as well.

Despite three weeks since the inception of this academic session, the administration has only been able to carry sixty percent of the total classes, as opposed to previous years, where the turnout corresponded to only 10-20% of students, the number exceeded to about 30-40% in 2019, making the situation difficult for the administration, as claimed by Professor Ramesh Bhardwaj, Officer on Special Duty in SOL.

Professor Bhardwaj further quoted that the shift in the system from an annual mode to a semester mode has contribued to the problems all the more. Where the annual mode classes would have begun in October or November, the new semester mode, adopted by the SOL has pushed the timeline much forward than planned, for the first-time the students of the SOL will be studying under the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), which will bring their courses on par with regular curriculum.

However, right from the start of the course, regular protests are being held by members of KYS, and other student organisations, expressing their grievance against the authorities in different parts of the University. Classes are being cancelled regularly and many times at the last minute, causing wastage of student’s time & energy. 

“We don’t mind the CBCS system being implemented, but they [administration] are clearly not prepared for it,” says Aarti Khush Wahab, a first-year student at SOL. 

The administration has further announced the dates for the examination to be in the first week of November, what with the inconsistent classes and inadequate study material, worsening the situation for the students. 

In response to issues mentioned above, the administration plans to hold classes in double shifts, Professor Bhardwaj said. Currently there are about 30 centres alloted to SOL for holding classes, the administration requires 70 more in near future. The step seems promising but its effectiveness seems to be a big question. 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Faizan Salik

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Arts Faculty

Revamping DU: Central Library Preservation, New Hostels and Academic Block

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The University of Delhi’s long-time pending demand for the construction of two hostels has finally bore fruit with the University ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). This stands as one of the key developmental issues that will take place in the University.

The University of Delhi (DU) along with the CPWD is planning to construct two hostels in the North and South Campus. A ‘400 bed capacity with double accommodation’ hostel is to be constructed in Mukherjee Nagar and the one in South Campus is yet to be finalised.

Currently, there are only 17 hostels in the University with a total capacity of 3,215 students whereas the total number of students for undergraduate, postgraduate, and certificate courses stands above a staggering number of 2,23,000 students. Having more hostels will bring better and safer living alternatives for the students of the University.

Along with the construction of the hostels, DU is also planning to preserve the century old Central Library as a ‘heritage building’. The Central Library is a host to a collection of 1,380 gifted books and functioned as a shifting space, until it found the present location at the Faculty of Arts in 1950. According to the plan, the library will be renovated and preserved along with the addition of another new block to it. The plan includes the construction of smart class rooms, seminar halls and an auditorium.

These two projects are spearheaded by CPWD along with the construction of a fully ‘digitalised Academic Block’ which will be located at the Maurice Nagar. The academic block will only be used for teaching purposes and will be constructed with digital and world class technology.

The University is working on more interesting plans and new technology for the students. As reported by The Pioneer, Mr. Tarun Das, Registrar, DU, said, “With the CPWD as the executing agency of the project, an estimated budget cost of the entire project is said to be 200 crores.”

The environment angle will duly be kept in check while all of these construction projects take place. Mr. Das also quoted, “Permissions need to be sought from environment department for felling trees.”

All of these projects stand as great stepping stones in bringing world class facilities to the university and making the spaces more accessible and centres of learning and ease for the students.

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Amrashree Mishra

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