DU staff oppose move to rename Dyal Singh Evening College
Teachers and staff members of Delhi University’s (DU) Dyal Singh Evening College on Friday met the chairman of the college Governing Body in a renewed effort to stop the proposed renaming of the institution.
The move comes ahead of a Governing Body meeting scheduled for Saturday, where members are expected to approve and release the minutes of a December 2025 meeting in which the proposal for changing the college’s name was passed.
The university administration had announced in December last year that Dyal Singh Evening College would be renamed after Sikh warrior Banda Singh Bahadur. The college is currently named after Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a noted 19th-century philanthropist, educationist and social reformer. The proposed renaming has triggered repeated protests by the college staff association, which has demanded that the decision be withdrawn. Mithilesh Kumar Singh, president of the staff association, said the delegation met the Governing Body chairman to press for reconsideration of the proposal before Saturday’s meeting.
According to Singh, the proposal to change the name of the college was approved during the Governing Body meeting held on December 5, 2025, and later forwarded to Delhi University authorities.
He said the association wants the matter to be discussed in detail within the college before any further steps are taken. “We have requested that the principal convene a proper meeting of the staff council to discuss the issue,” Singh said.
The controversy has continued for several months, with members of the teaching staff arguing that the decision should involve wider consultation within the institution.
In April, the staff council had staged a protest over the issue and demanded formal discussion on the proposal. Following the protest, the college principal wrote to Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh seeking directions regarding the convening of a staff council meeting.
