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Concern Over Unfinished, Dusty Road in Front of Ramjas College

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The construction work in front of Ramjas college, which started a month ago to install sewage lines has been creating problems for the daily commuters. The roads were demolished in order to build proper sewage lines, and were hastily and temporarily repaired recently.  

This temporary and haphazard work done by the authorities is creating problems for the students and teachers alike. All the people suffering from breathing problems such as asthma find it difficult to breathe in the air, which is rife with dust particles. It not only aggravates their breathing, but also adversely affects their health.
Archit Singh, a student from the college suffering from asthma said, “I live in the hostel and I fear to go out of the college because the air is full of dust particles.”
Both asthmatic students and professors faced problems as they were unable to attend lectures resulting in huge loss to academics.

The road is not well-developed and is causing problems for the daily commuters. Veethi Khare, first year student of the college says, “I come to college on foot and the damaged footpath is run all over by the vehicles. This makes it quite difficult for the pedestrians to walk as they have no space left.”

It is also a major concern for the disabled people who face problems in crossing the road.
A PwD student Sumer Ram said, “The authorities are not making the road due to which so many PwD students refrain from coming to college. Blind students face problems in crossing the road.”

A student of Ramjas College, Udbhav Sharma wrote an application to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and highlighted the major concerns pertaining to this issue. He said, “Ramjas is a big college of Delhi University and such broken condition of road does not reflect good on the ambience of the college itself.” He also laid emphasis on the problems that the freshers will face, if the road is not constructed well within time.

 

 

Priya Sharma, a first year history student said, “It’s a shame that the administration has not shown any concern towards this. Even around this time, I didn’t come across any signs of improvement. The road is still in the same old condition. Moreover everybody is supposed to go from the main gate, I mean it’d be nice if they can allow people to enter from the other gates.”

Faculty members of the college appealed to the concerned authorities to take the requisite action. Talking to DU Beat, Principal Manoj Khanna questioned the Delhi Jalboard’s inefficiencies in completing the task on time.

Feature Image Credits: Ramjas College on Instagram (@ramjascollege)

Antriksha Pathania
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Campus Central

Ramjas College administration: will Not accept Articles on Politics

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The administration has put out a notice asking students to refrain from sending articles on political themes.

In a recent move by the Ramjas College administration, articles with political themes will not be accepted for the college magazine Anand Parvat but rather, students are encouraged to submit ‘generalised’ writings instead. A further notice was sent clarifying that students may send the article on any topic but, which stated that, “students should however take precautions that the Election Commission of India has issued certain guideline to give views on social media in light of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections”.

The move apparently comes after the February 2017 clashes in Ramjas which erupted after Umar Khalid was called for a seminar organised by the literary society and the department of English.  Repeated censorship and systemic silencing in Ramjas has been condemned by the students.

“I don’t understand how can academic space be divorced from the political and read in isolation, that too in a college like Ramjas, whose walls smell of resistance and dissent. I find it very immature and undemocratic on the part of the administration to issue such an arbitrary notice.” said Yash Chaudhary, a third year statistics student.

Dr. Vinita Chandra, an associate professor at the Department of English who was previously a faculty advisor to the student editorial board remarked that this was the first time in Ramjas’ history where the magazine was brought under the staff council, “the money for the college student magazine comes from the students…College magazines, like school magazines, are meant to provide students a platform to express their creativity and their ideas about college life and the world they live in. It is not meant to be an academic journal. An administration that thinks it needs to censor its students and is afraid of allowing them to speak is truly out of touch with young people and needs to look into the reasons for its mindset.” she added.

The drastic move has also brought about resistance from the students. The Students Federation of India (SFI) plans on organising a protest on the 18th of April, 2019 in the college premises against the administration. Resistance follows Ramjas in uproar on social media and posters in college as the administration remains mum on the move.

“Well, the kind of censorship being seen in a space like Ramjas only further reiterates that there isn’t a better time to serve your country by writing politically, and keep fascism at bay” said another student, who would like to remain anonymous.

According to a Hindustan Times report, magazine convenor G. Chilana said that he had received complaints from various departments about the notice. “We are not sidelining any department or subject. We just want students to write more on academic issues rather than about any political event or ideology which has no relevance for the magazine. They should understand this,” Chilana said.

 

Image Credits: DU Beat archives

Jaishree Kumar

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Campus Central

Talk on Triple Talaq with Nivedita Menon and Zia-Us-Salam

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Prof. Nivedita Menon and Zi- Us-Salam talked on the issue of Triple Talaq in Ramjas College on 28th  January 2019.

 

The Department of  Political Science, Ramjas College organised a talk on Triple Talaq on the 28th January 2019. The key speakers were Zia-Us-Salam, Associate Editor of Frontline, a literary and social commentator, and the author of  ‘Till Talaq Do Us Part’ and ‘Of Saffron Flags and Skullcaps’ and Prof. Nivedita Menon, a professor of political thought at Jawaharlal Nehru University was also one
The talk began with Zia-us-Salam clarifying the term Triple Talaq, and suggested the usage of the term ‘instant Triple Talaq’.  Salam further went on to elucidate on Islamic marriage laws, role of the women in Islamic marriages, and the eight forms of divorce in Islam. He quoted verses from the Quran with respect to the topics. He further added that the role of the media in spreading propaganda, and hate against the Muslims and Islamic beliefs has severely impacted the discourses on Islamic thoughts and teachings.
The discussion then stirred towards the legality of Triple Talaq in context with Muslim laws and the role of maulanas and imams in situations involving the same.“Most incidents of  Triple Talaq are eloquent examples of the failure of Muslim society to instill in its men the teachings of the Quran; instead, they end up relying on the Quran’s interpretation by local maulanas,” Salam said while quoting his  book, ‘Till Talaq Do Us Apart’.

Image Credits:Department of Political Science, Ramjas College
Image Credits:Department of Political Science, Ramjas College

Nivedita Menon asserted on the prevailing patriarchal atmosphere in the country, islamophobia in the context of  mob lynchings, cow-slaughter and ‘love jihad’. Menon brought up the correlation between patriarchy and organised religion. Menon remarked that Islam had been ‘hijacked by the maulanas’. She talked about how marriage laws differ in every religion. According to Hindu Marriage Laws, marriage is a sacrament between two people. Whereas, according to Muslim laws, marriage is a contract and the terms of the contract can be negotiated.

Keeping the Uniform Civil Code in mind, Menon pointed out that it has nothing to do with gender justice, but with a Hindu nationalist agenda. She defined marriage as a civil institution. A two way argument on how Triple Talaq is not given in script was discussed.

Image Credits: Department of Political Science, Ramjas College
Image Credits: Department of Political Science, Ramjas College

Menon discussed the position of the Muslim women in the society in respect the current political atmosphere. She said, “We need to stop sounding like the patriarchies we’re fighting.” Menon also spoke about adultery laws and the discrepancies in it. She mentioned the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and their efforts as women’s rights organisation for the Muslim women who have been victims of instant Triple Talaq, and faced social ostracization as a result.
Both the speakers agreed on the current islamophobic atmosphere and the patriarchal structure of certain Muslim communities, and its influence on instant Triple Talaq.

 

Feature Image Credits:Department of Political Science, Ramjas College

Jaishree Kumar

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Campus Central

Ramjas College to Undertake Sustainable Renovation Ahead of NAAC Accreditation

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Surprisingly, it is the only college in the North Campus that is yet to be accredited by the Council.

Despite lack of funds, Ramjas has decided to apply for the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) this year. Extensive renovation work is underway, but the college has taken up ‘sustainable renovation’, implying the reuse and recycling of building materials.

Over 35 Delhi University (DU) affiliated colleges have been graded by NAAC, with Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), and Hindu College topping the list. The university, as a whole, has been graded A+.“To manage the resources, most of the work in Ramjas has been done internally, using waste material from the college itself to cut down on the cost,” Principal, Dr. Manoj Khanna said.

The stone slabs, which were otherwise rendered useless after being discarded from other parts of the campus have been put to use in making pathways. Besides, new railings are being built out of underground water pipes.In works is also a rainwater harvesting unit, the covers of which have been made out of the tops of the college’s out-of-use water coolers.

Other reforms in the run-up to the accreditation bid are creation of a ‘purchasing committee’ and formulation of a standard operating procedure for college-related expenditure. “The aim is to try and move towards improved transparency. We are also going to move our attendance mechanism online. The majority of effort is going into collecting and organising records from all departments and societies for the last five years — financial records, student records, teachers’ publication records, etc.,” Khanna added.

The quality status score is given by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), an autonomous body of University Grants Commission (UGC).These scores are valid for five years after which the colleges will again have to apply for accreditation.It is still debatable why Ramjas never applied for NAAC accreditation, because it was in 2012 that UGC made accreditation compulsory for higher educational institutions, and DU executive council adopted the decision in 2014.

Once an institution applies for the accreditation, a peer team from NAAC visits the colleges for 3-4 days and interacts with teachers, students, alumni and all stakeholders of the institution. “It is a very systematic process which is comprehensive and some of which is even video recorded,” said a teacher at SRCC. (paragraph source: Hindustan Times)

 

 

Image Caption: Ramjas College to apply for NAAC

Image Credits: DU Beat

 

Maumil Mehraj

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Photo Story

The Fore Challengers of North Campus

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Every sport event is more than just a contest for the testing of physical fitness. Each player represents his or her own dedicated effort and expectations in the act of living their favourite sport. Stories of the following sports teams and societies go on to show just how passion drives human endeavor.

 

Image Credits:Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

Winning their first match in an official tournament, the Girls’ Basketball Team of Hindu College defeated a presumptuous patriarchy. Being the first team of its kind in more than two decades, a team with minimum amenities, these self-trained ‘underdogs’ thrive on passionate interest and intoxicating energy for their game.

Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

Championing the second most expensive sport, the Ramjas Archery Team has registered itself as a leading team in the varsity. The girls’ team has won gold for four consecutive years. Playing at the national and inter-college level, the team is expecting even brighter prospects in the upcoming Nationals; for which, two women archers of the team have already qualified.

 

Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.

Defined for its individuality, the game of Shooting tests every player’s talent to add up to the team’s overall performance. Four members of the team have been selected for the World University Trials. With the vision of representing India in Olympics, every shooter plays importantly for a sense of gratification and satisfaction. Hansraj College is known for its excellent produce of opportunities for these young shooters.

 

Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.

With the background score of players indulging in a game of Cricket, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College’s cricket team’s coach recounted countless achievements of the team. The team won Lala Raghubir Singh Tournament this season. Looking forward to a better and more rewarding season ahead, the team exudes dedication.

 

The housing of agile talent in University’s North Campus is only a fraction of the vast multitude of achievers and to-be olympians in the varsity. DU Beat wishes all of them luck.

Feature Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Mahi Panchal

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Surbhit Rastogi

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Aakarsh Gupta

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Ramjas College

College Round Up Series: Ramjas College

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With yet another academic session coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to let nostalgia get you over and look back at the year that has gone by before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation and some of us eventually leave to charter their career paths. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round-Up (2017-18)’ where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2017 and 2018.

From a 25% fee hike to rebelling against the Principal, let’s take a journey through the major events that took place at Ramjas College from May 2017-April 2018.

Feature Image Credits: Ramjas College

Radhika Boruah
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Karan Singhania
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News

Students and Teachers Rebel Against Ramjas College’s Principal

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Ramjas College has again hit the headlines, and this time too it’s a controversy. On 25th of January, more than 200 teachers, students, and members of the non-teaching staff of University of Delhi’s Ramjas college held a dharna and demanded action against Dr. P.C. Tulsian, Acting Principal, Ramjas College.

Dr. Tulsian has been accused of siphoning students’ fund to pay employees who were not on the college payroll, causing financial discrepancy in the college accounts. According to the findings of a committee founded by the Staff Association, two staffers who worked as the personal staff of the Principal marked their attendance manually whereas all non-teaching staff members used biometric attendance.

“They are not employed by the college, but are paid salaries of Rs 15,800 and Rs 11,000 per month from the students’ fund,” Prof. Surender Singh Dahiya, President of the Staff Association said. “The Principal has continued the employment of a large number of staff on a contract basis who are engaged in his office with no work”, he further added. The Principal was also accused of delaying a long-standing demand for an audit of the funds from 2013.

In his defense, Principal Tulsian told the Indian Express, “This is an absolutely baseless allegation, these things are not true. If you Google my name, you will see my contribution to the nation. As I am the head of the institution, I have an attendant who also drives and takes me to the Vice Chancellor’s office, Minister of Human Resource Development, and the University Grants Commission. ”

Following the protest, a delegation of teachers, students, and staff members submitted a representation to the Prof. Devesh Sinha, Dean of Colleges, J. P. Khurana,  Pro Vice Chancellor, and Mr. Yogesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor. The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) has also extended support to this agitation against the Principal.

“Earlier this month, our college celebrated its 101st Foundation Day. However, if you see past our legacy, the current state of the college lacks even basic infrastructural facilities, despite the 25% fee hike”, a student of Ramjas College said.

 

With inputs from PTI

Feature Image Credits: Ramjas College’s Facebook Page

Niharika Dabral
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Uncategorized

Ramjas Incident: Videos featuring anti-national slogans found to be ‘Fake’

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After nearly five months of the incident of obstruction of a seminar and the subsequent violence at Ramjas College that followed, the issue has taken a new turn. In a recent Action Taken Report(ATR) filed by the Delhi Police in the court, it was initially reported by some news papers that professors who led the protest against ABVP allegedly raised anti-national slogans. The Delhi Police report, submitted by the joint commissioner, in regard to the earlier court report, stated that some of the administrative staff and professors were also a part of the protest. The videos were later found to be fake by Delhi Police.

The professors were accused of shouting anti nationalist slogans, “Hum Kya Mange Azadi”, “Kashmir Mange Azadi”. Delhi Police had initially named five faculty members for leading the protest march in which the slogans were raised.  They were Dr Devraj Mookherjee, Mukul Manglik, Vinita Chandra, NA Jacob, and Benu Lal. Speaking to DU Beat Dr Mookherjee said he wasn’t even part of the protest. “The police put it wrong, I was not there and everyone knows that. The entire college knows that. I did not happen to be a part of that march. So, I am not a witness to the particular slogan hearing incident”, he said denying the charges.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity a student of the college who doesn’t have any political affiliations said that the protestors were chanting “Meethi Meethi Azadi”, “ Pyaari Pyaari Azadi” which got misinterpreted to anti nationalist slogans and was misused in the doctored video. “The accusations are entirely baseless,” said the student.

After the video was found to be doctored, Police Officials said that they would send other videos for forensic examination as well. Speaking to the Hindu, deputy commissioner of Police, Madhur Verma, said that the clip was an amalgamation of the Ramjas Protest, speeches by JNU student Umar Khalid and other incidents and the Police department has asked media sources for a raw and authentic footage of the protests.

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Rashim Bagga

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Admissions 2017

Discrepancies in ECA list at Ramjas puts applicant’s future at stake

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The University of Delhi grabs eyeballs every year between May to July when its admissions process commences and culminates, and every year along with these takeaways, the flaws in the administration system are brought to the fore. This year’s cycle has been highly prone to technical glitches, chaos over the calculation of marks, and an overall ambivalence over the whole process.

Pulling on this thread, a candidate, Paras Nagpal, aspiring to pursue B.Com (Hons.) from the varsity was a victim of this confusion. An ECA applicant, Paras had applied through the Theatre category for admissions. Having scored a 94.25% in his Class 12th Boards, he had temporarily secured admission in Dyal Singh College, after his name came in the merit list released and he ranked 10th out of a total of 100 candidates.

The ECA procedure started with a faint idea about the process a few days back when Paras registered with individual colleges according to the guidelines. As per a list which was announced by Ramjas College on July 14th, his name was among the two candidates selected for Theatre ECA, and with surmounting joy, he proceeded to cancel his admission at Dyal Singh College to withdraw his documents. However, much to his dismay, he was denied admission by the authorities on the grounds that an updated ECA list had been released at 11:30 pm. The new list had replaced him with an applicant in the Dance category, and his name was nowhere to be seen on the tabular sheet. Distraught, he wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor and the college’s page to look into the unfairly handled matter.

When speaking to DU Beat, he expressed disdainfully how after checking the list once in the evening, he couldn’t have fathomed that a list released around midnight signed and updated on the website would not include his name. The authorities claimed that there was confusion regarding the best of four calculation of the other candidate whose name made it to the list, and after re-evaluation, she ranked higher. The obvious question that despite four cut-off lists, the fact that the best of four calculations were still erroneously done is deeply problematic. He added that on approaching the authorities with this grave mishandling, they held a meeting for about half hour before intimating that the seats have been fully occupied in the B.Com (Hons.) course.

Paras is a resident of Haryana and like many other outstation candidates flocked to the campus when the official admission cycle commenced. After crossing the hurdles of the online application, two rounds of ECA auditions, and an incessant waiting period, all his hopes were pinned on making it through. Now with two days left for the new academic session to commence, he is left with no colleges in his kitty and wishes that the unjust treatment of his case be looked into sincerely.

When probed, we reached out to the officials at Ramjas College. Repeated calls to the College’s authorities went unanswered.

More than two lakh school graduates every year have a desire suppressed in their hearts. A desire to study at a varsity known for grooming people, for rocketing cut-offs, for rewarding cultural fests, and for three years of an all-encompassing college life. Mismanagement and the chaos blemish the beginning lines of this journey.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

 

Saumya Kalia

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Srivedant Kar

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News

Ramjas students to face a 25% fee hike

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A 25% increase in fees at Ramjas College will be effective from the 2017-2018 academic session. Such a hike will require every student from across courses to pay an additional amount of Rs. 2500 each. The decision was made in a staff council meeting of the College, held on Friday. Acting principle, P.C. Tulsian maintained that the fee hike was necessary in light of the developmental work taking place in the college. Moreover, he said that the University does not give funds for the same.

However, the move has not gone down well with the faculty and students of the college. Students view it as a clear movement towards privatisation of the college. They’ve also criticised the fee hike as going against the public-funded nature of government colleges and a sheer attempt to dismantle it. For years, the University of Delhi has invited students from various economic backgrounds. However, due to such a move, students from lower income groups are bound to be burdened by the added expenses.

This decision by Ramjas College comes shortly after the move to inflate hostel fees at the DS Kothari hostel. In a statement to the New Indian Express, a group of DU students remarked:

“If all colleges and hostels will slowly hike their fees, even when the varsity is central and public funded, then where will the poor students go? It clearly states that the varsity is moving towards autonomy and privatisation of education.”

Following the controversy to make St. Stephen’s College autonomous and the recent NAAC appraisal, many have begun to view such moves as part of an agenda to privatise higher education.

Please write to us, expressing your thoughts on the same.

With inputs from The Statesman and The New Indian Express

 

Feature Image Credits: Ramjas College
Swareena Gurung
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