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Thefts and an Unaccountable Administration Raise Concerns at Kirori Mal College

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The University of Delhi has once again found itself amid another controversy; owing to a series of thefts that happened within many college premises during the most recent semester examinations. This has raised questions about negligence and disregard for student safety on the university’s part.

On 10 December 2024, several students at Kirori Mal College reported having had their phones stolen. This took place during the semester-end examinations for undergraduate students at the University of Delhi. The students reported being disappointed by the college administration and forced to act independently. Numerous instances of stolen goods at Shyam Lal College, Kirori Mal College, and a couple of others were reported in the last two months. One of the faculty members themselves has reported having had their laptop stolen from within the college staff room. 

During our examination, I and a few other students had our phones stolen from them, from outside our classrooms where we were told to leave our bags,

one of the affected students remarked, clearly frustrated with what had gone down.

The Kirori Mal incident saw over half a dozen people lose their phones in a couple of hours. The administration faced criticism, given its allegedly reckless, waiting-for-a-disaster approach to safety, as they had not installed the required number of security cameras. Kirori Mal College only had one camera for the entire floor where the incident occurred. As shared with us by one of the victims, Dinesh Khattar, the principal at Kirori Mal College, allegedly refused to take responsibility and instead used the “government-funded” rhetoric at the students in an attempt to deflect any blame that could have been put on them.

Given that we are a government-funded institution, we cannot afford to install more security cameras than we already have. The students were, in any case, warned not to bring their phones on the back of their admit cards,

the students reported the principal saying when we discussed the administrative response.

The crucial detail in the admit card as mentioned by the principal has an intriguing piece of ambiguity attached to it, as the students pointed out. It does warn students against having phones inside the “examination hall” but never quite distinguishes between what qualifies as an examination hall and what doesn’t. One’s assumption would naturally be that the classroom is their designated examination hall, but not if we go by the administration’s alleged words. These students could not afford to leave their phones at home, as most spend hours on daily commutes, often getting home very late.

Moreover, worsening the fiasco was an alleged confession. Speaking to us, one of the first-hand witnesses and victim alleges that they heard one of the staff members joking about the fact that the thefts happened much earlier than they usually do during exams. This alleged blatant disregard, despite being aware of the situation, comes off as negligence of the highest order, which is only paving the way for more such cases, the affected claimed.

Furthermore, the alleged narrative that the college is publicly funded, as spun by the administration, begins to lose steam once we look at where the money is being used. The college is rebuilding its auditorium, which is estimated to cost nearly 10 crores, and regularly invests heavily in events centring around high-profile names. A lack of pressure from the student body to install additional security cameras and security guards to prevent something of this magnitude from happening again is also partly to blame, an inquiry revealed. Many claim that the highlighted failure of the student body is a downward spiral that youth politics in India has found itself stuck in, in the last few years.

Read also: Student protest in Ramjas College against the sexual harassment charges on Prof. Dhani Ram violently disrupted by ABVP

Featured Images Credit: The Indian Express

Yash Raj

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DUB News

Delhi HC Slams DU for Arbitrary Admission Denial

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The High Court (HC) ruled in favour of the petitioner and stated that the University could not unfairly reject admissions of deserving students because of the inconsistency in its own information bulletin.

In a recent ruling, the Delhi High Court called out the University of Delhi for arbitrarily cancelling a student’s enrollment. The case goes back to the previous term, 2022–23, when a student was denied admission to Kirori Mal College (KMC) in the B.A. Hons Geography programme offered by Delhi University (DU) on the grounds of “non-fulfilment of subject mapping criteria.”

Since last year, admissions to many central universities, including Delhi University (DU), have taken place through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) (UG)-2022. The eligibility criteria require passing class XII from a recognised board and adhering to programme-specific requirements. In this case, the petitioner opted for English, Hindi, Geography/Geology, History, and Political Science, deviating from specific subject requirements for B.A. (Hons.) Geography.

However, the CUET allowed for flexibility if an individual Central University permitted it and The petitioner argued that, in the absence of ‘English Literature’ as a CUET subject, he opted for ‘History,’ which he considered the closest match to his prior studies. According to Clause 4 of the University’s information bulletin, the student was offered this flexibility.

After the results were announced, the petitioner was allotted a seat in the B.A. Hons Geography programme at Kirori Mal College on October 19, 2022. The seat was accepted by the student, but the University later cancelled his admission, citing “non-fulfilment of subject mapping criteria.”. This lead to a legal dispute.

The University of Delhi challenged the petitioner’s eligibility based on the subjects chosen in CUET. This case was previously presented to a single judge bench presided over by Justice Vikas Mahajan, who held that the University of Delhi had arbitrarily and incorrectly cancelled the petitioner’s seat without any of the petitioner’s fault and violated the terms and conditions outlined in the Bulletin of Information. He also noted that the petitioner was a deserving and meritorious student who had made it to the merit list in the first round of admissions.

The University of Delhi was ordered to admit the petitioner into the B.A. (Hons.) Geography programme at the same institution in the academic year 2023-2024 due to the conclusion of the admission procedure for the previous year.

The single judge’s decision ordering the University to accept the student into the B.A. (Hons.) Geography programme for the academic year 2023–2024 was challenged by DU in a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) and hence presented to the High Court.

Delhi University was represented by attorneys Mohinder J.S. Rupal, Hardik Rupal, and Sachpreet Kaur, while the respondent student was represented by advocates A. Velan, Navpreet Kaur, Nishant Bishnoi, and Mritunjay Pathak.

The appeal was to reverse the previous judgement because, as per the guidelines, the student was required to give the admission test again to get enrolled for the academic year 2023-2024. The appellant also argued that the ‘DU Exception’ did not apply in this case, and hence the judge cannot link ‘English Literature’ and ‘History’ as similar.

The key concerns of the court were to explore and understand the university guidelines and check whether ‘History’ could be replaced with ‘English literature’ or not. Secondly, the bench considered whether the student could actually be admitted to the term 2023–24 based on the previous judgement.

The court observed that although CUET required students to align with subjects that they took in class XIIth Examination, Clause 4 of the information bulletin permits the students to choose a subject that mirrors their preference in XIIth Board and resembles the programme they wish to pursue further, hence offering a deviation. In this situation, the student had rightly used ‘DU Exception’ with no fault of his own since the university had not released clearer instructions regarding the same. The whole injustice was caused by the ‘narrow interpretation’ of the guidelines.

The University’s denial of admission was hence unreasonable, according to the court, which also determined that the student had properly used the DU Exception. It brought to light the ambiguous criteria for using the DU Exception and the University’s constrained interpretation of its own guidelines.

Delhi University has failed to provide a cogent rationale regarding the perceived dissimilarity between ‘English Literature’ and ‘History’ and overlooked the very essence of the DU Exception. Notably, the University has neither delineated guidelines nor disseminated instructions that clarify the parameters of the DU Exception, such as defining the extent of “similarity” or “closeness” between subjects.

– Read the observations by the bench.

Regarding the second matter of reviewing the single judge’s decision to provide relief to the petitioner, the court referred to the judgement of the Hon‘ble Supreme Court of India in the case of S. Krishna Sradha v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2020) 17 SCC 465. According to the guidelines of this landmark ruling, if a ‘meritorious’ student has been denied admission on arbitrary grounds or the breach of rules, affecting his or her rights, and has approached the court on time without any delay, he or she should be granted justice to not limit their academic journey. If he or she cannot be provided relief of admission in the present year, the court can direct such admission to the next academic year.

The bench thus favoured the student and mentioned,

The student cannot be held accountable for any delay or negligence. Being an exemplary candidate, he has been unfairly deprived of his admission due to the capricious and unwarranted decisions of the Appellant University.

The Court emphasised the importance of upholding the ideals of fairness, inclusion, and clarity in educational institutions, particularly those with the status of Delhi University. It criticised the absence of clear guidelines for applying the DU Exception, stating that this ambiguity not only leaves students in a state of uncertainty but also makes it difficult to foster clarity in rules and their uniform implementation.

Read also: Shockingly Low Admissions for New B.Tech. Courses at DU

Featured Image Credits: Google Images

Priya Agrawal
[email protected]

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News

DU Student Breaks Locks of Girls’ Hostel; University Issues Notice

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Pallavi Raj, a postgraduate student of Political Science from Kirori Mal College (KMC) broke the locks of the undergraduate hostel gates on 29th February.

The students along with Pallavi, a resident of the North East Students’ House for Women (NESHW) was one of the protesters held on 29th February, went for a march to the Vice Chancellor’s (VC’s) residence on the same day. However, it soon started raining because of which they put the mattresses and bedding they were using for the sit-in inside so that it does not get wet. “The administration must have thought that we had given up and they took that time when we were at the march to lock the doors. When we came back we asked them to open it and they did not let us in. They had chained down the gates and locked it. Then we had no other way but to break the locks,” said Pallavi to Indian Express.

She was issued a letter on 2nd March by Delhi University (DU) which claims her of indulging in activities that bring embarrassment to the Hostel. The letter asks her to focus on her studies and stay in the hostel with peace and order. She replied to the letter saying that the Provost has no right to send a letter that accuses her without even issuing a show-cause letter or a proper hearing.

Dr. Rita Singh, the NESHW in a statement to Indian Express said, “Before we delve into details of what happened we need to understand that the letter sent on 2nd March was legally sound. If a student has done something wrong, they need to send a show-cause notice for that behaviour and let the student explain the situation. But this letter is just like an advisory that has already accused me of an act and is warning me against consequences.”

The curfew timings for the Delhi University Girls’ Hostel for undergraduates is 7:30 PM while for postgraduates its 10 PM. There have been several protests for extending the same, the most recent being on 27th February at DU Girls Hostel Main Gate, Indira Vihar. But, the aspect which differentiates this recent one from the earlier is that for the first time the students of all the five hostels housing the students of Delhi University are protesting and attempting to seek their demands in unity.

Feature Image Credits: Edexlive

Kriti Gupta
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DUB Speak

Sexism in Kirori Mal College B. Sc Courses

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Students talk about several dress code restrictions in several Bachelor of Science (B. Sc) courses for female students in Kirori Mal College.

In 2019, it might come as a surprise that several colleges all around India still introduce and promote dress code restrictions for female students. The reasons suggested by the various administrations for these restrictions might vary, but they still show the orthodox mentality prevalent in many higher education institutions throughout India. The idea of higher education comes with a certain sense of liberty. These practices will only destroy that sense of liberty and make these institutions into regressive and oppressive campuses.

A recent example is St Francis College for Women in Hyderabad, who implemented the banning of shorts, sleeveless and similar dresses on campus as of 1st August, 2019. It seems that Kirori Mal College, which is a part of Delhi University, might also be facing similar issues. Kirori Mal does not have a stated dress code for any student in its rules and regulations. However, students from B. Sc (Honours) allege that certain teachers still implement dress codes for female students.

A student studying a course of Bachelor of Sciences stated that they are not allowed to wear revealing clothes. She said, “We are not allowed to wear dresses above knee length and even off shoulders are not allowed”. Another student pointed out that both these departments are present on the second floor of the Science block, and these restrictions and rules are passed down by the one of the departments. These are followed by several of the teachers other B. Sc departments.

Another student talks about an event that she witnessed first-hand at the Bachelor of Sciences department Freshers. She said, “A girl who happens to be the Class Representative of a department was questioned about the way she was dressed. The part that disgusted all of us was that she was apparently being slut shamed by our female professor.”

She continued, “This is not an isolated event. During our Fresher event, girls were not even allowed to wear something which would expose their knees and if they did, they would not be allowed to attend the Fresher party. This message was directed to us by our teachers from our department.”

These restrictions bring to the light and into question the misogynistic attitude present in every section of the Indian society. The sexist nature these restrictions show the still prevalent culture of victim blaming and failing to address the main problem. The problem is not what women or anyone as individuals choose to wear, but the fact that women are still objectified. The problem being that instead of addressing the root cause behind objectification and harassment, we are still trying to pin the blame on the victim.

Feature image credits: Aditi Seth

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

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Campus Central

All Male Panel at KMC’s Women Conclave’19 Sparks Controversy

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A look at the controversy and the arguments surrounding the decision to field an all male panel during Day 1 of Kirori Mal College’s Women Conclave, organised by National Service Scheme unit’s Women Empowerment Cell, Sahas.

The annual Kirori Mal Women Conclave was held on the 23rd and 24th September in the college campus. However, when the speakers for the panel discussion to be conducted on Day 1 was revealed, it turned out that an event which claimed to celebrate ‘Women and womenhood’ did not have a single female panelist, with the only one keynote speaker being female, Ms. Ira Singhal. The speakers announced for the panel discussion on Day 1 were Mr. Kanishk Priyadarshi and Mr. Pavitra Paruthi from Scoopwhoop, and Mr. Ankush Bahugana from MensXP. This decision was heavily criticized profusely on social media, as many came forward with the irony in representation in an event organized by the Women’s Develpoment Cell, and on the topic “Women and womenhood”

The repercussions of this event were felt on Day 1 itself, when Mr. Bahugana backed out from the event, citing that the panel discussion should have had female representation. Alongside this, the event was also met with protestors holding up banners during the panel session protesting against the lack of female representation. On speaking to one of the protestors, Adrija, a first-year student, she said, “In every panel, every field around the world, men are the dominant people who are part of these discussions, so I feel that in places like women conclaves which is on women’s issues, women are severely needed, So kya point hai discussion ka (What’s the point of a discussion).” She also stated that the discussion got derailed because the panel didn’t talk about major issues. She mentioned that there was no representation of transwomen or the queer community in this year’s event.

On 23rd September, the instagram handle of Sahas uploaded a post reaffirming their ideas, and justifying their decisions.


View this post on Instagram

We have witnessed a certain backlash regarding our all male panel for the day 1 of the Women Conclave 2019. Yes, it is true that the panel consists of all men but we took this subsequently intentional and bold step to convey and put forward certain views. Firstly, we believe that it is not only women who have the responsibility to empower other women. Voices of women are heard. But is not only the duty of other women to echo those voices. Next, Women Conclave is simply about celebrating womenhood and supporting hardworking women. Is women empowerment so sacred that only women have the right to talk about it? We certainly disagree. Furthermore, we did try to contact certain women we thought would make this panel even more admirable than it already is. However, due to certain reasons and their prior commitments, it could not happen. We cannot ignore the fact that for the past 2 Conclaves, we have had only women talking about women’s issues. This year also, majority of the sessions are dominated by strong women. The all male panel is indeed a controversial step but we do not regret it and are rather excited about it because at the end of the day, everyone has something to say. Nevertheless, we do have a female panellist who will be moderating this panel. So we request you all to kindly attend the session. We promise to answer all your questions. Yours sincerely, Arshita Chaurasia Head Coordinator

A post shared by SAHAS (@sahas_wec) on

On speaking to Arshita Chaurasia, the head event coordinator for the event and the treasurer of the NSS unit, it was mentioned that women speakers were invited for Day 1, but they weren’t available.  She stated that the idea of all male panel was taken to the Convenor and the Principal and they felt there was no such issue, as men should speak on these issues and be educated as well on women empowerment. Dr. Benu Gupta, the program officer for NSS said “What we are looking for is of course women empowerment and capacity building of women. But ultimately society is made equally by men and women so if we only keep on empowering women and not sensitizing the men and we won’t hear men about what they are experiencing, then it doesn’t make any sense. You are biased if you are not taking men on board.” It was also pointed out that six of the ten speakers were women, when taking into consideration both days of the event. To strengthen her argument, Dr. Gupta also pointed out that for something like the keynote session held by Mr. Rakshit Tandon on Day 1, on the topic of cyber security, expertise and knowledge was the determining factor and not gender.

Feature Image Credits: Stuti Srivastava for La Voice KMC

Prabhanu Kumar Das

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Events

Metvy Releasing in August 2018

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So what happens after the founder of the company who is like beer in a bottle flows out after being opened? Does he end up in a wine glass or in a glass which is not there at all?
That was exactly the dilemma of Shawrya Mehrotra, he flowed out of the beer bottle into the perfect glass but just like beer needs chakna to be enjoyed with it, he too needed a co-founder.
After spending months looking for his co-founder Shawrya finally roped in Rajan Luthra. Initially Rajan joined as the influencer head, but Shawrya soon found his chakna and Rajan was made the co-founder.
In a nutshell TVF|Pitchers never stopped inspiring Shawrya and Rajan.
A platform which defines people near you isn’t a new idea, but looking at our generation caught up with the crave and lust for electronic screens, Shawrya was aspired to bring nostalgic face to face interactions back. He wanted a platform where technology brought people together for a real conversation, quickly and conveniently.
Within months not only did he come up with Metvy but made it one of the most sort after internships for summer on the Delhi University campus with more than 30 students interning from SRCC, St. Stephens, Kirori Mal, LSR etc. in various departments.
Metvy is a real time networking platform focused on making strangers in the same vicinity with similar interests and networking needs interact face to face. Currently its being mentored and backed by Mr. Alok Jain, former vice president of Wipro Technology, Founder of various companies like CareerCo and BootStrap Foundry.
The idea has won many B-Plans in the past year and in the past couple of weeks has received attention from various premier and international institutions including NASSCOM, London Business School, London School of Economics, IIM-Ahmedabad etc.
Releasing in August 2018 Shawrya’s idea has already gained traction and is being approached by multiple VC’s and Angel Investors.
Do checkout Metvy and give them a shoutout.

 

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News

Transvestite Murdered in Delhi, DU student accused

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On 29 May 2018, a transvestite person was stabbed to death by a group of Delhi men, after an altercation with the victim. One of the men accused is a student at the University of Delhi.

Commission of the crime

The accused spotted a woman in a black salwar suit and red chunni and tried to stop her. Once they realised that the person is not a woman, the victim was stabbed in the heart, face, and head with a swiss knife. The crime was committed at about 2 a.m. in the night. The men asked the victim about their mehendi, anklets, and the attire, which led to an altercation as the victim tried to escape.

“This incident reveals the nature of crimes that are carried out against trans femme people. If the victim would have been cis-gender, she possibly would have been raped. The accused probably felt ‘lied to’ in a way and proceeded to commit such a horrible crime.” Bhavya, a student expressed her grief.

Persons identified

“The teams analysed the data of missing persons and identified the [person] as 22-year-old Kalu, who lived near the temple in Kalkaji,” DCP (south-east) Chinmoy Biswal reported to Times of India. The investigation further surfaced that the deceased used to dress up like Goddess Kali on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

As far as the accused go, the police apprehended the accused, Naveen, a first-year student at Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, from Govindpuri area. Six others including three juveniles were also apprehended. The other accused that have been identified are Aman Singh, 20, Mohit, 25, and Sajal Maheshwari, 19. Aman and Sajal are delivery boys while others are school dropouts.

Ruth Chawngthu, co-founder of Nazariya: A Grassroots LGBT-Straight Alliance, brought to light “how much hyper-masculinity is ingrained in our society, to a point where any sign of femininity is seen as an invitation for assault and harassment.” Crimes against women and trans-femme people are being committed at an alarming rate in the country, with no strong judicial mechanism in place.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Raabiya

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Campus Central

Enactus Highlights 2017-18: SSCBS Wins Enactus World Cup and Enactus Nationals 2017

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Enactus, a household name in the University of Delhi, is the world’s largest experiential learning platform. This social venture has helped transform communities with the involvement of young visionary minds at the college level. Here are the highlights from the projects, achievements and initiatives from the Enactus societies of Delhi University:


Enactus Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS)

Enactus SSCBS, established in 2009 is one of the most well-known names in the circuit. The team for the academic session of 2017-18 secured the first position in the Enactus Nationals 2017. Their flagship projects Udaan and Raahat were adjudged as the best projects by the jury. They went on to represent India at the Enactus World Cup in September 2017 in London. They bagged laurels for the country by lifting the World Cup as well as the Water Race trophy. Since their inception, some of the projects they have worked on are Project Akshar, Sanitation Solutions, Project Gramodhaar, Project Udaan, Project Raahat, to name a few, to work towards causes like unemployment, eradication of open defecation, usage of affordable sanitary napkins etc. They have received prestigious grants from Mahindra, Ford, and KPMG. Enactus SSCBS has also actively worked with Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Project Raahat has a partnership with Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board for the allotment of public toilet complexes. This year, they also organised a Social Start-up Fest where social enterprises were invited to showcase their projects to NGOs and investors. On World Water Day, they hosted a Sanitation Conference which received acknowledgement from the Honourable Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Suresh Prabhu.

 

Enactus Lady Shri Ram College

Established in 2012, this chapter of Enactus has paved their position in the circuit as one of the most hard working and active societies. The team has successfully worked on five projects till date, namely, Project Maati, to initiate a transformation from chemical to organic farming in Punjab, Project Yuvaakti, focussing on the skill development of the women from Chaina and Bajwara in Punjab, Project Kalakaashi, to restore indigenous crafts in Varanasi, Project Auric, working for the economic benefit of rural women in Harayana. Their most recent venture, called Project Utthaan aims to curb air pollution and addressing the issue of degrading air quality. Under this project, the team has promoted vertical gardening services. Project Utthaan focusses on uplifting poor nurseries and the skill enhancement of the stakeholders involved. Enactus LSR were also among the top 24 teams in the Enactus Nationals 2017. They have also collaborated with NGOs like Santiniketan Society for Youth Empowerment, Kolkata for Project Auric and IFFCO Kisan for Project Utthaan.

 

Ready, Set, Go! #NC17 #EnactusIndia #WeAllWin

A post shared by Enactus LSR (@enactus_lsr) on

 

Enactus Hindu College

Since its formation in 2013, Enactus Hindu College has come a long way with their social initiatives. This year, they effectively worked on Project Oorja and Project Veerangana. The second phase of Project Oorja sought to develop a low-cost solar lamp to economically empower the street vendors. This project promotes the use of renewable sources of energy, imparting a significant environmental impact. Enactus Hindu College received the Blue Dart Empowering Competition Grant 2017 and Mahindra Grant 2017. Project Veerangana is an enterprise to promote women safety by training women in self-defence. Apart their main projects, they also work for ensuring a safe environment for stray dogs in harsh weather conditions.

Enactus Motilal Nehru College (MLNC)

This chapter of Enactus was established in 2014. The team was among the top 24 in the Enactus Nationals 2017. Enactus MLNC has actively worked towards the welfare of animals. Their Project Parivartan started with the goal to create a safer environment for stray dogs through practices like sterilising and immunising to fight diseases like Rabies. Project DESI developed from the previously mentioned Project Parivartan. DESI stands for “Duty to Empathize, Sterilize and Immunize” stray dogs. Under this project, the team collaborated with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), college campuses and Animal Welfare NGOs to create a healthy environment for stray animals. Apart from animal welfare, Project Parivartan also branches out to women empowerment through the employment of underprivileged women living in Chanakyapuri making handmade dog collars and leashes. The team has worked with NGOs like Pet Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Friendicoes, and Sonadi Animal Welfare Trust. During National Volunteering Week, Enactus MLNC organised an event called Coexistence in partnership with PETA Youth India and Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), to spread awareness about the animal protection acts and the concept of veganism.

 

Enactus Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (SBSC)

One of the most active members of the social community, Enactus SBSC, since its beginning in 2014, has worked on four major projects. Project Karva aimed at forming a business model, to not only provide women with vocational training, but also grant them with a market to sell handcrafted pots. Their second venture, Project Roshni, in which they collaborated with Janata Rehabilitation Center and Nai Disha NGO, sought to empower the visually impaired. Project Aahar started with the goal to achieve “zero hunger” by providing employment opportunities to the seasonally employed migrant workers from in and around Delhi, to train them to run their food stalls. In the academic session of 2017-18, Enactus SBSC laid the foundations for Project Vidyut. The project involves an aim to influence the villages in India to switch to alternate sources of energy, like biogas. sbsc

Image Credits: Enactus SBSC.   

 

Enactus Hansraj College

Conceptualised in 2012, Enactus Hansraj has actively worked towards providing entrepreneurship avenues for marginalised women through Projects Swaad and Lekhni, and establishing the facilities of clean drinking water with Project Boond. The team is currently working on two flagship projects called Project Aangan and Project Mithaas, aimed at building a network of crèches for the benefit of underprivileged children. Under Project Mithaas, this year they also worked towards promoting bee keeping as an alternative source of income among the farmers of our country. They introduced two social campaigns called Ahsaas and Aashayein. Under Ahsaas, the team helped organise several workshops for blind community. They collaborated with Navjyoti NGO under their dream campaign, Aashayein, for the holistic development of children.

Enactus Sri Venkateswara College (SVC)

Enactus SVC introduced two new projects during its 2017-18 session. Their first initiative, called The Crimson Project, started with an aim to manufacture, and consequently increase the availability of reusable sanitary napkins. Project Barqat, their second venture this year works towards imparting training among target groups to help them in the procurement of raw material, assembling of the parts, production and the final installation of solar bulbs. Enactus SVC has worked on other projects like Project Aushadhi, which was an enterprise to bond the homeless with unusedlized excess medication, Project Heartist, to help train artists, Project Captain Compost to help turn waste into soil amendment, Project CiggB, an anti-smoking project. Under Project CiggB, the team has conducted several online and offline campaigns to raise awareness. During Volunteering Week 2018, they organised three successful events over a period of 6 days, namely, Captain Cleanliness, Trash the Ash and Win with waste.

 

Enactus Kirori Mal College (KMC)

The KMC chapter of Enactus started in 2016 has successfully catered to two projects since its inception, and is currently in the works for four prospective projects. Project Patradya works towards providing a bio-degradable alternative to plastic in the form of edible cutlery made by a community of Afghan refugee women. Their second endeavour, called Project Dor, aimed to alleviate a group of women in Sapera Basti, Najafgarh Delhi, who were at the brink of prostitution, through production of scarves using the traditional art of tie and dye. Enactus KMC bagged the second position at the Enactus Rookie League, and was shortlisted for the semi-finals, emerging as a part of the top 24 teams of Enactus Nationals 2017.

 

We officially kick started our School Outreach Programme at DPS Ghaziabad Vasundhara to generate awareness about the plastic menace and provide a healthy and environment-friendly alternative in the form of our project Patradya. We hope to do more of these in the future to continue with our ultimate goal of educating more and more people about issues that prohibit the sustainable growth of our society and mutually find solutions for them. If you are interested in organising/holding awareness workshops on refugees and/or tackling the increasing plastic waste that’s crippling our environment, kindly message us or drop us a mail at [email protected]. #enactus #dpsghaziabad #sustainability #weallwin #projectpatradya #environment #enactusindia

 

A post shared by Enactus KiroriMal (@enactuskmc) on

(All information is based on the data received from participating colleges in a DU Beat survey)

 

Feature Image Credits: Enactus, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.

Bhavya Banerjee

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Placements

Job Placements 2018: Highest Placement Offer of Rs. 31 LPA at SRCC

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The placement season this session at the University of Delhi touched new heights in terms of the number of companies involved and the number of students securing placements. Because of the initiatives of the various placement cells, this year witnessed a rise in the average pay packages offered.
The highest placement offer this year of Rs. 31 lakhs per annum (LPA) was bagged by a student of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), offered by the consultancy giant Parthenon-EY. This placement marked an exponential improvement for the Placement Cell of SRCC as their highest placement for the last academic session 2016-17 was Rs. 30 LPA. Kirori Mal College and Shaheed Bhagat Singh College both witnessed their highest placement offer at Rs. 19 LPA. The highest offer in St. Stephen’s College was Rs. 19-20 LPA in terms of cost to company (CTC) by the Boston Consulting Group. Hansraj College observed a boost as well since their highest offer increased from last year’s figures of Rs. 16 lakhs per annum to Rs. 17.5 LPA this year.

The average pay packages this year start off at Rs. 3.9 LPA at Daulat Ram College. Kirori Mal College, where over 90 students were placed, and Sri Venkateswara College, where the current number students placed is 146 (subject to increase), both received average salary packages of Rs. 4.1 lakhs. Shaheed Bhagat Singh College observed an increase to an average of Rs. 4 lakhs per annum from the previous year’s Rs. 3.2 lakhs, out of the 170 students placed. Hansraj College yet again managed to increase their average package amount from Rs. 5.02 lakhs to Rs. 6 lakhs. SRCC also observed an average salary package of Rs. 6 LPA this year.

St. Stephen’s College, Hansraj College, and Sri Venkateswara College witnessed 85+ companies visiting their campus for placements this season.

Notable names like KPMG (India), KPMG (Global), Hindustan Times, Inshorts, Decathlon, Bain and Company, Barnes & Noble Loudcloud, Zycus Infotech, Fidelity Information Services (FIS), Accenture, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and TATA Power, recruited the most number of students. First time recruiters like Hindustan Times, Inshorts, Byjus, and Saavn, among others, were also involved this placement season.

The most popular job profile remains Audit Associate or Analyst for commerce students. However, this year noticed a trend of inclusivity of companies branching out to the humanities and science streams as well. There were a plethora of job opportunities for science and humanities students. Companies like NIIT, IdInsight, FRR Forex, StartupEd, Decathlon, Bain & Company, Dell, Teach for India and Urbanclap, recruited from all courses. The profiles offered for humanities and science students ranged from business development, research, marketing, content writing, human resources, etc.

Communication skills, practical knowledge, achievements in academics and extracurricular activities, analytical skills, quick and out of the box thinking, strong logical and reasoning abilities, and academic proficiency are some qualities that hiring companies look for in a student.

(All information is based on the data received from participating colleges in a DU Beat survey)

 

Feature Image Credits: AstroBetter

Bhavya Banerjee
[email protected]

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Bazinga

Bazinga: Kirori Mal College Cancels Farewell For its Graduating Batch

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In an unprecedented development, Kirori Mal College (KMC), affiliated to the University or Delhi (DU), has cancelled its farewell for the graduating class of the academic session 2017-18.

DU Beat was informed about this recent development through an official circular from the Chairman of the college, Mr. Srivedant Desai.

In the circular dated 23rd of April 2018, Mr. Desai has noted, “In a show of support for the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) strike against the new UGC guidelines, the Kirori Mal College Teachers’ Association (KMCTA) in collaboration with the college Students’ Union has jointly decided to withhold every form of celebratory activity within the college premises indefinitely. All department and society farewells along with the college farewell for the graduating batch henceforth stands cancelled.”

While the motive of this decision is aimed towards just dispensation, the same has been criticised by various student quarters of the college. Directing strongly-worded criticism again the Students’ Union, President of the Western Dance Society, Karan Pandey, remarked, “We support the teachers in their struggle again the UGC guidelines, the 30-70 percent formula. However, it was wrong of the Union to take such a decision without consulting with us. The democratic character of the Union would be eroded if the students’ representatives continue to take reckless decisions.”

A group of final year students from Botany Honors and History Honors have decided to demonstrate against this decision, by organising an indefinite hunger strike. The group of protesters, consisting of about 130 to 150 students from the two departments, have occupied the area in front of the entry gate. Mallika, a student protester, told DU Beat, “We have spent 3 years of our lives in this campus. Right from when we were freshers, farewell was something that we all looked forward to. An entire montage of conflicting emotions, ranging from nostalgia to happiness to reverie, would be associated with the word “farewell”. But now, there would be nothing to commemorate the three years spent here. Today, we are protesting against the sheer lack of sensitivity displayed towards our emotions by the people in power.”

Adding on to Mallika’s remarks, Nikhil, President of the department of Botany Honors, said, “We will not move an inch from here until the decision is revoked by the KMCTA and the Students’ Union. If they had pledged to serve our interests when they occupied those positions of power, they must stick to their commitment.”

When the correspondent approached the college Principal for his remarks, he refused to comment on the same. When prodded further by the correspondent, he said, “At this point of time, I wouldn’t want to make a statement on this highly sensitive issue. I will surely revert back to you within a day.”

However, no reversion from the Office of the Principal had occurred since.

In a phone call conversation with the correspondent, the President of the college, Sandeep Samal, responded to the criticism by saying, “Look, we understand that this step is a rather controversial one, and no one expects the final year students to suffer. But until and unless we join in the teachers’ struggle and force the Varsity administration to pay heed to their demands, the DUTA struggle will not make much headway. It is only through real sacrifice that we will see real outcomes.”

As the students go their separate ways, some towards the job market and others towards higher studies, is depriving the graduating batch of 2017-18 of one final day as young, carefree students justified? This conflict of interests between a noble cause on one hand, and the students’ interests on the other, is expected to take a heavy toll on the already fragile nexus between the teachers and students of this significantly “political college”.

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

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

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