Dubiety over Delhi University autonomy
The rollback of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) might be a big win for the University Grants Commission (UGC) and several student and teacher unions who have fought against it all along, but at a heavy cost. This move comes as one of the biggest attacks on the autonomy of an old and reputed institution like DU. Though this time it was only the matter of revoking the FYUP, the diktat of the UGC to university colleges has set precedence to a culture which can prove unfruitful and interfering in the near future.
The autonomy of the university was first invaded upon when the UGC surpassed the university and sent direct orders to colleges to enroll students only under the earlier prevalent three year undergraduate programme. The move found support from the detractors of the FYUP but it was not too late that they realised that the pressure being put by the UGC would hit back some day. A member of the AAD (Rathi) group said, “It is good that the UGC is putting pressure on the university right now but it is not a good sign in the long run. Right now we are feeling happy because it is supporting our cause but tomorrow the UGC’s directives may infringe upon our autonomy. It’s a bad culture that we have already allowed to happen for our immediate need.”
The irony lies in the situation that people who are tarnishing the autonomy of the institution at the moment are actually those who had once raised their voice when the UGC had directly written to colleges recommending the removal of ad hoc teachers.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani too issued a statement in respect with the university’s autonomy on Friday. However, her statement was more of a clarification to UGC’s interference and a direct target on the V-C. “The autonomy of a university should be respected. However, the interests of students should not be sacrificed at the altar of prestige,” said Irani. However, Aditya Narayan Misra, chairman of Academics for Action and Development, accused the UGC of acting on behest of the MHRD. This, he said, was aimed at exerting undue pressure on the Delhi University to rollback the FYUP. “The latest statement of Vice-Chancellor is a violation of the Act, statutes and ordinances of DU with the neutralization of its vibrant statutory organs like AC, EC and the University court. This letter for the rollback of FYUP extracted under coercion and violent conditions will prove to be a final nail in the coffin of the university’s autonomy and academic freedom not only in Delhi University but in entire India. We all will have to pay a heavy price for the loss of autonomy in future,” he explained.
The Delhi University will now begin admission soon under the earlier three-year undergraduate programme, but under a shadow of the UGC. This show of cards has turned turtle for many in and outside the game now. What happens or not once admissions are done is different, but once the UGC which embraced the FYUP and now removed it, can tomorrow even interfere in matters pertaining to academic importance, Misra feared.