DU is Saraswati's abode no more
The semi-literate plebeians of Delhi University have reason to rejoice, even if somewhat prematurely. They believe they have almost scalped one of the most distinguished academics to adorn the exalted chair of Vice-Chancellor. To save the university from further ignominy and turmoil, Professor Dinesh Singh is said to be contemplating resignation. In any other country, a scholar like him would have been feted as a visionary. It is a measure of Indian academia's descent into intellectual moribundity that such a sterling personality is being hounded, a sacrificial lamb at the altar of mediocrity. For almost a week, the country has been witnessing an unsavoury moochh ki ladai (ego battle) between the University Grants Commission and Delhi University authorities, which would have been amusing if it had not involved the careers of several thousand students especially those already pursuing the Four-year University Programme (FYUP) introduced last year. The UGC's sudden discovery of the programme's alleged illegality appears to have been prompted by extraneous pressures, too obvious to need recall. But the mandarins of India's educational edifice must be held to account for their shameless somersault in first allowing the FYUP to go on for a year and then all of a sudden issuing a firman to scrap it. The consequences of UGC's whimsicality have been enormous. Delhi University campus today resembles a battlefield with proponents and opponents of FYUP holding rallies and demonstrations in support of their respective causes. The University's autonomy is in tatters. As the opinion of the Academic Council is trampled underfoot, its much-vaunted ability to stand up for academic excellence stands shattered. Irrespective of whether Dr Dinesh Singh stays or goes, the fact remains that the once-hallowed portals of the university, of which he is an alumnus, today reverberates to dholak-beats of rowdy hooligans revelling in the institution's disgrace.
Without discussing the pros and cons of the FYUP, which are already well known, it can safely be said that it was introduced with the intention to match up to international standards of undergraduate education. The new system included a remarkable optional component: Students could drop out of the course after two or three years with degrees of varying academic weightage. The DU Academic Council's final recommendation to integrate FYUP with a post-graduate programme was, in fact, a most innovative idea. Sadly, a network of pampered teachers habituated to drawing hefty salaries and time-bound promotions irrespective of merit or scholarship seem to dread an enhanced number of classes (albeit within UGC guidelines). Needless to add, a section of time-pass type students has also been vociferous against the innovation, egged on by persons with little experience either of academia or administration.
It is unfortunate that the so-called custodians of higher studies namely the UGC seem unable to resist the pressures of political one-upmanship. Instead of supporting the innovative programme, which should have been progressively extended to other universities in order to raise the country's overall standard of undergraduate education, the hide-bound mandarins seem preoccupied with nitpicking and throwing the UGC's financial clout at DU to compel it into submission. In the process, one of India's finest educational institutions, which had zealously guarded its autonomy and showcased its excellence worldwide for decades, is tottering on the brink of becoming a plebeian, run-of-the-mill university throttled by a squad of intellectually impoverished persons within and outside the campus. It is a sad day particularly for DU's countless alumni as they painfully watch their alma mater slide into a morass of mediocrity.