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 Increased Seats for Economically Weaker Sections

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The DU administration rules on implementing and increasing the economically weaker section (EWS) quota by 25%, leading to 6550 more seats across all colleges.

The Delhi University has decided to increase the total number of seats available to students from EWS background by 25%. This increment will be seen taking place in two steps- first, seeing a 10% increase, i.e. 2620 seats and the other, 15% i.e. 3930 seats. This plan shall see that the new academic year will see 6550 more seats for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Another agenda that was brought up during the meeting of the admission committee was that of developing a mechanism to avoid duplication of registration data, and to finish admission procedure before the academic session starts. This would mark a serious change as the admission process goes on a long while after the teaching already starts, and this could suggest that the admission for DU courses might begin earlier than before.

There will be a centralised admission process under the ‘children/widow of armed forces’ category, as last year DU had increased the sub-divisions within this category, causing problems and technical errors in finalising the admissions quickly.

The committee has also decided that in order to make the admission process simpler they will upload a tutorial video on the official website that will help the students by showing them how to fill the form and perform other functions. There will also be dummy forms filled on the website to show the students the proper way of doing the same. The chairman of the committee, Rajeev Gupta, said in a press release- “Usually applicants apply through cyber cafes. This often creates a problem for them as multiple mistakes happen, which often don’t get rectified.”

However, the ideas aren’t off to a great start as the university administration missed the 31st January deadline for providing the details on how the seats will be added, the money that will be required, and other such details for the phase one i.e. the 10% increase. The admission committee members were not available for a comment on the same.

Image Credits: Tribhuvan Tiwari for DU Beat

Haris khan

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Campus Central

Bazinga: DU to Install Centrally Air Conditioned Systems in Colleges

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Delhi University to ensure centrally air conditioned campuses, due to the growing climate concerns.

Delhi University issued a statement on the 7th of January, 2019 that it will instal central air conditioners in all the college campuses. The proposal is set to be in motion from the new academic year (July onwards). On a trial basis, a few select colleges will have these installed. Depending on the affect or reaction of the college community, this measure will be taken on a full-fledged mode.

The reason, issued earlier, is the shifting climatic conditions. With the northern India witnessing a cold wave, it is expected that the summers will be as scorching as ever. Heena Garg, a student of Maitreyi College says, “The college infrastructure, especially the ventilation is a big problem in classrooms. The rooms are very stuffy and it creates a lot of problems in the hot summer months. The fans do not work properly. It results in a lot of discomfort among students.” A lot of private universities have already adopted the centrally conditioned system in their campuses. Infrastructure is still a major issue faced by a lot of Government or state based colleges.

Professor Yogesh Tyagi, the 22nd Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, expresses his views on this decision, “It is about time the Delhi University improves its infrastructural facilities. Addition of the centrally conditioned campus will be a major boost for the University and will benefit the students and staff.”

With the rising levels of pollution and lack of pure air in the Capital’s air index, a lot of households are also shifting to centrally treated air conditioning. Their growth in the Indian markets has been very restricted as compared to that of their western counterparts, where every house is already centrally conditioned. India is lagging behind in this lifestyle concern as its affordability is restricted only to the rich.

Apeksha Jain, a second year B.Com. student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College comments, “In a city which has such extreme climates, DU’s decision for central air conditioning is a really good one. it will improve campus engagement and attraction, and improve the existing infrastructural conditions of the university.” While some of the colleges in DU provide air conditioned classes to its students, the call is for a campus wide change for the better.

 

Feature Image credits: Interact Classroom

Avnika Chhikara

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Campus Central

Academic Council Claim Recommendations not Considered by DU

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The Academic Council claims that its recommendations have not been considered by DU, which has allegedly made the teachers unhappy.

On 1st of January 2019, a day before the meeting of the Academic Council (AC), several of its members claimed that the administration of University of Delhi has decided to not take the recommendations suggested by them into consideration. According to them, many of its recommendations have been missing from the Academic Council meeting’s agenda.

The University of Delhi, on the UGC’s notification, dated 18th of July 2018, had formed a 20-member committee to frame ordinances and statutes for promotions of 3,500 teachers, beginning with professorship in colleges and maternity leaves for ad hoc teachers, among many other issues. The committee was constituted so that it could look into the University Grants Commission Regulations, so that it could be implemented by the varsity. Following approval from the Academic Council, the concerning matter is sent to the executive council.

DU had called a meeting of the Academic Council, one of the statutory bodies of the varsity on the 12th of December 2018 which got postponed to the 2nd of January 2019. The reason behind this, according to some teachers, was that the administration kept on passing the University Grants Commission Regulations 2018 out of the meeting’s agenda. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) had also expressed its concern regarding the postponement of the meeting with the Vice Chancellor YogeshTyagi in a letter dated 11th of December 2018. It had also stated that the regulations had to be adopted within six months of the gazette notification and amendments made accordingly.

On 28th of November 2018, the Committee had submitted its report after meeting ten times for two months to decide on the modalities of the regulations.

Feature Image Credits: University of Delhi’s (DU) Official Website

Disha Saxena
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DUB Speak

A take on Safety in North Campus

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In light of recent events, safety in North Campus has been proven fragile. But even the failure in this test has not incentivized the necessary authoritative action.

 

Delhi University’s North Campus is famously known for its prestigious colleges. Some of the best colleges in the country are all smattered in close vicinity to each other. But in recent months, the same area has come to be known for its increasing crime rates.

 

On 2nd December, a tragic incident happened in the campus at nightfall. The incident started doing rounds on social media in a couple of days, to the utter disbelief and outrage of all students and residents of North Campus alike.

In the Facebook post, shared by multiple people, the following message was broadcasted:
“With utmost shock and anger, we inform you that our dear friend, Sandipan, a PhD student of Delhi School of Economics, was attacked by a couple of phone snatchers with knife late night on 2nd December. He was stabbed multiple times and is now admitted at Hindu Rao Hospital. The incident happened on the Naala bridge at Patel Chest. This is just opposite the Maurice Nagar Police Station.”
Pointedly, the area in question is a frequently visited place by all students in North Campus. A huge number of students reside around the area and so, the famous food outlets of North Campus are accessed via the same road. However, the incident raises questions on the presumed comforts and safety of the area, that the students expect before they take up expensive lodgings there.

 

The post continued, “Despite giving the number of the bike to the police, no action has yet been taken. The incident and the police inaction is telling of how dangerous our own campus has become.”

 

Multiple cases of phones being snatched have been reported by students. Within the first week of the commencement of college, a student of Hindu College lost her phone to the self-same phone-snatchers. Another student of Hindu College, on her way back from Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station to her PG in Shakti Nagar said, “I was sitting in a rickshaw with three other friends. The rickshaw came to a halt in front of Daulat Ram College where two men on a bike rushed past us and took away my phone.” The incident was traumatic for her to recount later.

 

As reported by DU Beat earlier, Aashish Jain, a student of Kirori Mal College (KMC) recalled the incident when his mobile phone was snatched. “I was right outside the college gate when I was on a call,” he said, adding that he hadn’t realised that people on motorbikes were keeping a watchful eye on him. “I disconnected the call, and was going to put the phone in my pocket when one of them snatched it from my hand and ran off on their motorbike.”

 

Unfortunately, safety is not a concern because of these material losses alone. Safety of girls is as always only an agenda in the pompous manifestos of all political parties. A student recalled being stalked by a group of men in their car when she was returning from her college one evening. Such stories are far from uncommon. It is sad that we should demand for gender-specific safety in such an eminent area.

 

Casual sexism and misogyny that all of us observe everyday go on to show that legal action in seclusion cannot ensure safety of women. We need a more ‘human’ approach towards the issue. Calling out such abominable behaviour is our resistance. It is ironic how an area that is marked for its institutions and their excellence, should be called out for its degrading safety measures.
“Delhi Police must immediately book the perpetrators,” notes the same Facebook post (aforementioned). “DU administration and the Delhi Police must ensure safety of students around the campus and around every college of DU.”
The inaction of the authorities can easily be explained in their inability to apprehend the perpetrators as yet. It is high time that proper action is taken. The ignorance towards these seemingly petty crimes may prove more harmful otherwise.

 

Feature Image Credits: Dailymail

 

 

Kartik Chauhan

[email protected]

 

 

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Campus Central

Moment of Reckoning: DU Accredited ‘A+’ NAAC Ranking

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The University of Delhi has been awarded ‘A+’ grade with a corresponding cumulative grade point average of 3.28 by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council .

 

One of the most prestigious universities in the country, the University of Delhi has come to its reckoning with the  National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grading. After a comprehensive evaluation of various departments from across the varsity, it has been accorded an ‘A+’ by the NAAC.

The cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for A++ accreditation is between 3.51 to 4.  As per an official, the council review was held in the last week of October. Last year, the Jawaharlal Nehru University was ranked “A++” in the NAAC review. The council grading is crucial for funds and grants allotted to a varsity by the University Grants Commission.

 

As reported  by the Press Trust of India, a detailed questionnaire assessing a multitude of aspects- from inclusivity to flexibility or rigidity in practising rules in the colleges were sent to the Department Heads across the varsity ahead of the official NAAC visit. There were 103 questions in total. Does the DU department celebrate national festivals or observe birth and death anniversaries of great Indian personalities; Is there a policy in place to check plagiarism were some of the questions in the questionnaire.
The accreditation is as per the Revised Accreditation and Assessment Framework launched by the NAAC in July 2017, which represents an explicit paradigm shift in the accreditation process, making it ICT enabled, objective, transparent, scalable and, robust, DU said in a statement. As reported by The Indian Express, the primary focus of the shift is from qualitative peer judgment to data-based quantitative indicator evaluation with increased objectivity and transparency. These include combination of online evaluation (about 70 per cent) and peer judgment (about 30 per cent), it added. DU has been accredited (First Cycle) with a CGPA 3.28 with A+ Grade, valid for a period of 5 years from November 30, the statement said.

 

With inputs from The Indian Express.

 

Feature Image Credits: India TV

Kartik Chauhan

[email protected]

 

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BAZINGA: DU Makes Clearing Dope Test Mandatory to get Admit Card

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Kunal has been sober for two days now. He has begun to identify things and people around him. The hazy pictures that used to form on his nearly-damaged retina, have assumed, all of a sudden, a 4K definition. He now remembers things,  breathes in fresher air (although that is a rare finding in Delhi), uses ice only to cool his soft drinks and paper only to wrap his chicken rolls in. All of this has happened because of one ruling. One sheet of paper has apparently changed his life.

Getting admit cards embodies a joy in itself. The sudden realisation of the fact that it is that time of the year when you begin to regret each and every jubilation you were a part of, that time you regret each and every puff of smoke and sip of that luxurious cocktail that you had in that fancy pub. Earlier, this used to be a metaphoric manifestation. However, this semester onwards, the University of Delhi has been gracious enough to make things even more tough for survival.

Short attendance may be handled through some politically active ‘bhaiyyas’ arranging for an affidavit. But the varsity has recently made the passing of dope tests a mandatory requirement for all students in order to lay their hands on their crisp black and white admission ticket. It is now compulsory to not only appear for dope tests but also to pass them with flying colours.

The decision comes after Ms. Anoushka S., an activist filed a PIL with the Honorable Court of University Justice, citing the bad effects that alcohol and drugs have on their health as well as lifestyle. Justice Gaitonde, the judge adjudicating over the case, says “As a student, I never got the time or the opportunity to experience what all of this feels like. When Ms Anoushka put in the PIL, it hit my wildest insecurities. Therefore, I decided to deliver an unbiased verdict in the matter, and hence, the ban.”

The verdict has received mix response from the students. It is estimated that around 39 percent of the student body shall be bereft of their admit cards due to this ban.

Note: DU Beat or the author does not, in any way, encourage or support the consumption of narcotics, and shall not be liable in any way for the same.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only meant to be appreciated, not accepted.

Feature Image Credits: The Evening Standard

Aashish Jain

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News

Zero Fee to be Paid for Revaluation of Scripts

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In a trophy decision for the student fraternity, the University has waived off the fee that used to be charged for revaluation of the answer scripts of the students subsequent to the declaration of the End-Semester Examinations.

In an unprecedented decision coming out from the High Court of the national capital, it has been proclaimed that the University shall waive off all the fee that was erstwhile charged for the revaluation of the answer scripts, making things easy for the always financially insecure student fraternity.

The court refuses to stay the validity of the Central Information Commission (CIC) order, that allowed the scrutiny of answer scripts through Right to Information (RTI), and instead, plans to undertake a deeper look at the order passed by the council. To ensure that a proper channel is followed, the court also waived off the fee that the University used to charge for the purpose. The court plans to question the right of the students to seek inspection of scripts on a later date. January 30, 2019, has been allotted as the next date of hearing on the matter.

In the light of an RTI filed in the month of September, 2018, the decision comes as a financial set-back for the University, which accrued revenues of around INR three crores between the sessions 2015-16 and 2017-18, through fee levied on the students for revaluation of scripts and charges levied for handing over Xerox copies of the answer scripts to the students.

The case was born when two years ago, in 2016, when a former law student at the Varsity demanded the scrutiny of his evaluated scripts through an RTI petition. The matter dragged in the court for two years, but failed to gather pace. Hence, the student was compelled to move to the CIC, which delivered the verdict in the student’s favour, allowing him the inspection of his scripts as it is prescribed under Section 2(j) of the Indian Right to Information- “larger public interest”.

With figures input from IANS.

Feature Image Credits – DU Beat

Aashish Jain

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Students’ Welfare Deputy Dean Removed; Suspicions in Baisoya’s Case

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Members of the Academic Council and the Executive Council allege the removal of the Dean to be linked with the ‘fake marksheet’ case of Ankiv Baisoya.

A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report was prepared in 2017, according to which various guidelines pertaining to the deputation procedures had been violated by the University of Delhi (DU), leading to the existence of unauthorised positions in. The officials employed in the said posts were receiving unauthorised payments. There were allegations that no circulars had been published in Employment News or presented to colleges, for the vacancies in 11 posts.

According to a report in the Times of India, on Monday, 1st October 2018, Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, Deputy Dean of Students’ Welfare (DSW) approached the finance offer with regard to the fact that he had not been paid his salary. Allegedly, the finance officer informed him of the DU administration’s decision to stop the payment as Tuteja was asked to resign from the post. As per the Times of India report, the former deputy Dean finally received his salary after approaching the registrar’s office in the company of senior members of the Academic and the Executive Council. The reasons cited for this by the DU administration include the aforementioned CAG report, which also included the statements that the deputy and the joint Deans of Students’ Welfare had overstayed at their positions.

Accounts from various reports suggest that several members of Academic Council and Executive Council have alleged the follow-up actions to be a farce for preventing an efficient and just course of action in the investigation of the ‘fake marksheet’ case of the newly elected President of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), Ankiv Baisoya. He has been under the microscope ever since the allegations of him providing a fake marksheet for his graduation started surfacing, earlier last month. In a recent turn of events, DU has received a letter from Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, which stated that Baisoya’s marksheets were inauthentic and the latter had no association with the University. The DU admission panel had sought to look into the matter, but no official updates have been released by the DU administration on this case since then.

As per reports, Tuteja has been asked to join as a professor in Zakir Husain Delhi College where he earlier taught Mathematics.  Many members of the Academic Council and Executive Council members raised questions on the ongoing nature of the functioning of the DU administration. As cited in the Times of India report dated 1st October 2018, one of the Academic Council members informed that the Delhi University administration asked the principal of Zakir Hussain College to wait at the college so that Tuteja could complete his rejoining procedure.

DU Beat contacted Gurpeet Singh Tuteja regarding the same, but he refused to comment.

Anushree Joshi

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Anoushka Sharma

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Major Water Shortage in JMC

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Jesus and Mary College (JMC),  faces an immense water shortage everyday in terms of drinking water and water in washrooms. DU Beat brings to the extent of the problem and the reasons why.  

The students of Jesus and Mary College (JMC), Chanakyapuri have been facing major problems due to the lack of availability of drinking water and water in washrooms. The college, undergoing continuous constructions since the past many years, has two washrooms for girls located on each floor and a water dispenser for drinking water outside those washrooms. However, the washrooms run out of water in a couple of hours in the morning everyday and so do the drinking water dispensers.

“Jesus and Mary college does not have pipelines installed in the college which is why there’s always a water shortage in the college. The entire college has just one tank installed which gets exhausted within very less time,” says a second year student of Jesus and Mary College who wishes to remain anonymous.

“Our college has plenty of water available, except it’s not in the taps but on the floors,” says Ananya Chopra, a second year student of Jesus and Mary College. The washrooms reek of an unbearably strong odour and a dozen sanitary infections caused by the lack of hygiene. The flush installed barely ever works, there is no provision for soaps and the floors are always wet.

The inadequate washroom facilities are matched by the lack of availability of free drinking water. “Since drinking water is not available in our college, we have to go buy a bottle of water every day. Only half the washrooms are generally open and by the afternoon, there is no water available,” says Shiyona Biju, a second year student of B.Com. (Hons.) at Jesus and Mary College.

“Everyday, I am faced with water-less toilet facilities. Juxtapositional to dysfunctional flush, spray and basin systems are the perennial tap-leakages, wet floors and oh-so-wet wash basins; water at unusual spaces, basically. It’s needless to say yet I’ll say that our toilets are unhygienic, smelly, and highly dysfunctional. I’d really like to find out what degree of cash-crunch the college is facing to not be able to employ effective maintenance resources,” says Devanshi Jindal, a second year student of B.Com.(Hons.) at Jesus and Mary College.

DU Beat tried to reach out to the administration for a comment but was unable to get a response. The students of Jesus and Mary College wait with bated breath for some form of structural or tangible change and wonder why the college exposes them to such an inadequacy of basic necessities such as drinking water and hygienic washrooms.

Feature Image Credits: Ranjit John Architects

Muskan Sethi

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An Ode to the College Canteen : A Multicoloured Umbrella

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Hailing it as the ultimate institution of equality and diversity, our correspondents pay their ode to the college canteen.

The University of Delhi (DU) is a world of its own. It is a world inhabited by different people with different interests, from different backgrounds. At the onset, DU might not be the most inviting place and the differences that it accommodates may be starkly visible. The most evident point to this is how different groups mark different territories of the college. However, one safe haven which unites everyone at a DU college is the canteen. Apart from satisfying appetites and being the gossip point, the college canteen is surely an epitome of accepting diversity. There is diversity in the menu and the people, and nobody feels left out. Thepseudo- intellectual girl who might have a hardcore accent and an education from a posh school would be busy getting her fingers messy devouring a buttery aloo parantha and at the same time, the small-town boy from a Hindi- medium background who is trying to master the colonial tongue will also be helping himself to a plate of white sauce pasta with a plastic fork. Out here in the canteen, people are mostly busy enjoying the little things in their  college life making it a sort of equality- promoting, no-judging zone.

Anyone and everyone can step in this ‘Demilitarised Zone’, this neutral territory, to order food, socialise or get chutta for a 500 rupee note. The geeks, the freaks, the politically active students, the students who choose None of the Above (NOTA) in elections, the jeans wearers, the kurta wearers, the jeans and kurta wearers, all welcomed by the canteen doors. Some might say the library is a similar institution but with a look at the smiling faces, the colours, and the energy in the canteen and one will realise that the canteen is truly unique. Although students might hardly realise this uniqueness as it has become a part of our everyday lives. Some of the canteens have outdoor tables with umbrellas, while some sport hues of the rainbow. In today’s world, a college canteen can be symbolised by a multicoloured umbrella. Maybe, that is what the college canteen is, a multicoloured umbrella providing space for all students, all states, and all shades of opinion. DU Beat spoke to Brijlal Sir, the manager of the Ramjas College canteen about his experience of managing and running a canteen. He was asked, “How long have you been running the canteen at Ramjas college? How has the general experience been?” He answered, “I have been working here for eight years. In these eight years, I’ve pretty much seen everything, the most important and significant thing I have witnessed though is change. I have seen and served all kinds of people here. Students from dramatics, dance, music societies, studious kids, and even ladki ghumane wale, all come here. I see them as budding vibrant colours, and every year new colours are added into the mix.

Once, a boy came to me and said, ‘Sir bus agar yahan hone ki attendance lagti na toh classes se bhi zyada hoti meri’ (If only I would get attendance for coming to the canteen, I would have more attendance than I do in classes right now!). This made me very happy. One more interesting thing to note here is, the difference between the professor and the student diminishes, they all are alike. Yeh alag alag pehlu mujhe maano jaise kadhai main dale alag alag masalon jaise lagte hain, alag but ek jut, ek jagah.” It’s true, DU canteens become a safe haven for all without bias, a home for friendships, fights, protests, campaigns, love, sadness, and everything else. It has become a staple rule upon entering DU to visit canteens, especially those in the Faculty of Management Studies, or Hindu College, or Delhi School of Economics. It is so because these places have transcended the stature of just canteens but have become a place of memories.

Feature Image Credits: The Outlook

Shaurya Singh Thapa
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Haris Khan
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