“We are grateful to the authorities for listening to our pleas, but we shall not hesitate to go on strike again, if our demands are not met and discussed with proper attention” – Brajesh Singh, one of the student representatives during the strike in September.
On the 13th of October, Thursday, the students of Law Faculty went on Hunger strike again after the faculty refused to accede to their previous demands.
BACKGROUND
On the 14th of September, the students of Law Faculty sat on a hunger strike after mass failures where almost half the students had failed. Their demands were:
- Relaxation in promotion.
- Restoration of supplementary exams in the first and second year.
- Free revaluation for this semester and for introducing a full fledged revaluation scheme.
- Modification of the currently existing Improvement System with Best of Two.
In the end the Dean, Ved Kumari came forward and signed a written agreement stating that the faculty will fulfill their demands as soon as possible.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
After almost a month of being promised justice, the students were yet again, forced to sit on strike. Out of the four, the faculty was willing to recognise only the first demand, that is, the rest were denied. According to one of the students, “Even after assuring us, they have moved back on their word. Relaxation of Promotion was our priority but it was not our only demand, as is being said. When classes do not take place regularly, syllabus is hardly completed and mass failure is happening, revaluation becomes imperative.”
Allegedly, the statutory committee which was supposed to draft the proposal to be sent to the UGC, discussed only on the issue of promotion. Afterwards, the faculty denied the rest of their demands stating them to be impossible. On the other hand, the Dean, Ved Kumari stated that when the faculty was willing to give them the rest of their demands, they did not agree. The issue remained locked on both sides. SHO of Delhi Police, Aarti Sharma was also present on the scene.
Amit Tanwar, President of DUSU and Priyanka Chawri, Vice President, sat down with the students in support of their cause. Even an hour long discussion among the Dean, Tanwar, Chawri and the grieved students yielded no results. “The issue of mass failures has been here since a long time and it is time that somebody takes the first step to resolve it.” Mithilesh Jaisal.
According to DUSU President, Amit Tanwar, “ Many of the students here are also working and a year back or bad results can jeopardise their careers. The students of Law Faculty have the full support of DUSU and we will see to it that this issue is resolved as soon as possible.”
For more information, read our previous report: Mass failures In Law Faculty – Students Protest In Agitation
Image credits: Arindam Goswami for DU Beat.
Arindam Goswami