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The suggestion to drop these papers and replace them with new ones comes after the curriculum review being taken by the committee based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

 

The Economic Faculty members of Delhi University from several colleges opposed a suggestion put forth by the Academic Council who met to drop three elective papers, namely, ‘Economy, State and Society’, ‘Production Relations and Globalisation’, and ‘Economics of Discrimination.’ They have sent an appeal to the vice chancellor, Dr. Yogesh Singh to withdraw this decision.

Du Beat later recalled that the Committee has probably recommended the merger of the first two courses into one course and it has altogether recommended the deletion of the third course. These recommendations are to be taken up for consideration in the Standing Committee meeting on 14.06.2023.

Speaking about the ‘Economy, State and Society’ paper, Nandini Dutta, associate professor at Miranda House and member of the Department of Economics’ syllabus sub-committee, said-

“In the AC (meeting), we got to know they are objecting to this paper as they feel there is an overload of Marxist Political Economy. Secondly, they feel many papers are repetitive. This is not true. These are three different papers. In fact, Economics of Discrimination was brought in as there was a demand for Dalit understanding and of economics for the marginalised. All three papers were passed in the department council… we told the AC that… rejecting these papers can do greater harm to our students, post which we wrote to the V-C.”

The points that the faculty members took into consideration before the Committee decided to make a final decision were as follows:

 

  1. The Committee had two specific mandates viz. a) to avoid overlapping similarity between courses and b) to include economics of developed countries in the course content. Given this, “We categorically state here that there are no overlaps whatsoever between these three courses or with any other course in the proposed Economics curriculum. A cursory glance at the course structures and reading lists will clearly establish this. Therefore, the Committee’s decision to merge the courses or delete a course goes against the very mandate the committee was set up with.”

 

They further added,

“Our plea is that all the three courses should therefore not be changed at all because they have been prepared through several rounds of deliberation and have been approved by the Committee of courses, Faculty Committee and the Standing Committee of the AC. Further, they entirely fulfil the concerns of “non-overlapping” and “inclusion of the developed country perspectives”.

 

2. Economics of Discrimination is a newly designed paper covering crucial aspects of discrimination such as caste, race and gender. This is a very topical paper with an absolutely contemporary reading list. It is ironical when in the same AC meeting, the honourable Vice Chancellor has himself taken interest that a course on the economics of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar should be designed, a course on economics of discrimination, which includes the writings of Dr. Ambedkar along with contemporary academic writings, is being eliminated.

Shriprakash Singh, Director of South Campus and standing committee member, said,“This issue was discussed in the AC meeting. Following that, a committee comprising top economists of DU and the country was constituted, which suggested dropping these three papers and replacing them with one paper on Political Economy. We had accepted it and communicated this to the EC.”

Image Credits: The Indian Express

Read Also: DU to Conduct PhD Admissions via CUET from Academic Year 2023-24

 

Aanya Mehta

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

A section of Delhi University’s Executive and Academic Council members have demanded the appointment of a permanent principal at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) and have halted teachers’ interviews until the need is met. 

Professor Arun Kumar Attree, principal of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Morning) has been the ‘acting principal’ of the Evening college since December 2022. Several teachers from Delhi University’s Executive and Academic Council penned a letter to the Vice Chancellor, Yogesh Singh recently on Sunday, 7th May 2023 demanding the recruitment of a permanent principal at the evening college claiming that such a temporary arrangement for a full-fledged working college goes against the “ethos and practised norms of the university.”

The letter also highlighted that the staff association is deeply concerned about the future of the college as the “incumbent principal in collaboration with governing body chairman has been instrumental in displacing a large number of experienced teachers from the morning college in a recently held recruitment.”

The letter also requests for upholding the “university ordinance” and appointing the senior-most professor of the college as the acting principal unless the permanent principal is recruited. While citing that no major efforts were made to fill the vacancy for a year, it appeals for a speedy recruitment process and the halting of all faculty recruitment interviews unless the permanent principal is appointed in the “larger interest of the institution and the genuine demand of the staff association.”

As DU Beat ventures to converse with students at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening), we find out that the agitation among the staff circle has not affected student forums in the college much. A student of B.A. Programme at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) who wishes to remain anonymous alleges that the appointment of Professor Attree as the acting principal has “significantly improved” the condition of the evening college- in terms of academics and infrastructure in a matter of four months.

Whenever I have sought help from Professor Attree, I have found immediate action. Previously, under the former principal, my classes were irregular, our teachers would sometimes be unwilling to take classes and only 4-5 students would come. Professor Attree looked into that and placed strict attendance rules due to which 40-50 students come for evening classes without fail now. Not only that, he has revamped the washrooms, improved the library seating, made the evening timings for the library more flexible, and initiated building lifts in the college while also making sure the sincerity of teachers and students in taking regular classes. I am very satisfied with him being the acting principal of the evening college — a student at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College who wishes to remain anonymous.

As claimed by the students, in general they are facing no discrepancies in their academic schedule caused by the conflicts against the position. However, there is no clarity as to why the senior-most professor of the college was not appointed as the acting principal on the retirement of the former permanent principal, Dr. S.K. Sinha and instead, Professor Attree was chosen. Most students allege that Professor Attree in spite of being “burdened” with additional responsibilities of the Evening college has done an exemplary job compared to his predecessor.

This rising demand among the teachers could be a political agenda and even personal motives could be involved. The students in general do not support the removal of Professor Attree –a student activist at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) allegedly claims.

The appointment of a permanent principal at the college has become a burning issue within the forum and needs urgent attention from necessary authorities to resolve it in due time in order to preserve the educational integrity and progression of such a reputed South Campus institution.

Read Also: Delhi HC Overturns Order that Instructed Fresh Appointment of Hindu College Principal

Featured Image Credits: Shiksha.com

Priyanka Mukherjee

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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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An eight-month-old baby was allegedly run over by a University employee in the campus premises of Netaji Subhas University of Technology on 13th September around 9:30 a.m. While, many believe that the University took steps to cover up the incident, the students stand in solidarity with the parents of the child. 

On the morning of 13th September, an eight-month-old baby was allegedly run over by a car in the Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) Campus in Dwarka. The incident took place when a university employee was trying to park their car in the ground where the cars are parked throughout the day. The infant, Anand, had been put to sleep on the grass, as is often done by the workers on the campus. The faculty member ran their vehicle over the sleeping infant.

The concerned employee, allegedly, rushed to go and mark their biometric attendance after hitting the baby instead of tending to him as a means of securing their alibi. They were called back to the site later after being informed of the seriousness of the issue and the poor condition of the baby they hurt.

Multiple versions of the incident have arisen, as it is suspected that the college administration tried to cover up the incident. While one report by the Millennium Post says that the eight-month-old fell to death from a staircase, Outlook reported that the eight-month-old baby had died after falling off a 2 feet concrete structure in the campus.

Outlook reported, “The MLC report stated the injuries were caused to the baby due to fall from height, the police said.”

However, as reported by NDTV, a senior police officer in Dwarka said, “The child was run over by a car reportedly driven by a (university) employee. We were informed about the incident after a Police Control Room call was received at Dwarka North from Vanketeshwar hospital, that an eight-month-old baby was brought dead there. We haven’t received any complaint in this matter yet”

“The body of the infant was sent for post-mortem on Friday and the reports are awaited. We have recorded the statement of his parents and other relatives. However, the parents have denied the allegations on the college employee,” added the police officer.

Seeing a lack of support from the faculty, students and alumni of NSUT conducted their own investigation to connect the missing pieces, asking around the guards and some other authorities. As a result, they got a tip and found the mother. They asked the victim’s mother to come forward and speak the truth, post which she changed the statements.

The victim’s mother, Mrs. Satyadevi, in a video circulated, changed her statement on 16th September saying, “Jo pehle bata diya who galat hai uske liye maafi maangte hai. Bachhe ko khilaye pilaye aur sula diye hum. Ek gaadi aaya who humare bacche ke paas gaya. Hum nhi dekhe, ek dusra aadmi chillaya aur bola bachha uthayi. Kon tha who aadmi gaadiwala woh to hum nahi dekhe. Phir humare bacche ko kaha kaha le gayawoh hum nahi dekhe. (what I had said earlier was wrong and I apologise for that. I fed the baby and put him to sleep. A car then came near the baby. I didn’t see; some other man shouted and asked me to take the baby away. I didn’t see who the person in the car. I didn’t see where they took my baby afterward) ” Earlier, as reported by Outlook, the parents had denied these rumours and stated that the infant died due to falling off a 2-ft concrete structure

She added “hum maafi maangte hai (about the previous statements). Hum garib aadmi hai isiliye darr gaye hum kaha se kya karenge. Humko paise ka toh pata nahi hai. (I apologise. I am poor so I was afraid of how to deal with this. I am not aware of any money dealings)”

A security guard who claimed to be an eyewitness, saying that he saw the entire accident, was fired on that day itself. The parents of the child were also fired. It is speculated this was done to keep them silent. The students of NSUT found the parents held inside the Vice Chancellor’s house.

The students staged a protest in the campus premises demanding justice for the baby. They wore black to protest against the administration and organised a candle march on the campus. A faculty member, identified as the Dean of Student Welfare, was also caught on tape manhandling students.

“The administration pressurised the students not to take part in any protest because doing so would have serious action taken against them” said a student who did not wish to be named.

“Technically she (victim’s mother) was manipulated, way before anything, by the college administration.I’m highly impressed and really appreciate that everybody stood for the cause and everyone did their part of speaking up to these ruthless people”, said a fourth year student involved in the students’ movement.

On the other hand, Professor Sujata Senger, Dean of Academics, said to ABP News, “If we had blocked or stopped police from investigating in the campus, then it would have been our fault. I don’t think anything of this sort has happened. About the security guard being sacked, it is done by the agency itself. We don’t have any role in that.”

Video Credits: Students from NSUT

Feature Image Credits: Zee News

Satviki Sanjay

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The Infosys Prize is given annually to promote scientific research and honour outstanding achievements of contemporary researchers and scientists by the Infosys Science Foundation. The award, carries the prize of a gold medal, a citation and a purse of Rupees 55 Lakh.

Felicitated on 8th February, one of the recipients of the Infosys Prize 2013 is a Delhi University professor – Nayanjot Lahiri. She received the award for her contribution in the field of Archaeology, and her work that focuses on the integration of archaeological knowledge with the historical understanding of India. Her areas of specialisation are proto-history, Indian Archaeology, Archeological Theory, Heritage Studies and Ancient India.

She earned her M.A, M.Phil and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Delhi. She was appointed as a Reader at the Department of History, University of Delhi from 1982-93 and Lecturer at the Department of History, Hindu College, University of Delhi. She has also held the post of Dean of Colleges, University of Delhi from August 2007 till December 2010.

She has myriad number publications to her name which include Ancient India: New Research, Finding Forgotten Cities: How the Indus Civilization Was Discovered, The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization, Copper and its Alloys in Ancient India etc. She has also reviewed books in academic journals, newspapers and newsmagazines.

“She is one of the leading archaeologists in the country with very innovative work stretching back from the early days when she was working on the early history of ancient inscriptions of Assam. She has brought to light an understanding of ancient Indian history drawing on archaeological records and historical records and linking them in a way that has transformed the subject”, said Amartya Sen, the jurist for the award in his congratulatory message.