
Delhi University's New Timings Slammed As "Anti-Teacher, Anti-Student"
The July 31 directive said the decision was taken after deliberations in the Executive Council meeting on July 12.
The order comes ahead of the session, which for the first time includes students entering the fourth year under the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).
The expansion has raised concerns among faculty about infrastructure and manpower constraints.
"In order to achieve this and to ensure availability of faculty and staff during the period, the deployment of faculty and staff be staggered," the notification stated.
It said that senior regular faculty members should be given the responsibility of teaching and guiding fourth-year students, and guest faculty may be deployed wherever necessary.
Rudrashish Chakraborty, an associate professor at Kirori Mal College, denounced the order.
"8 am to 8 pm schedule of the colleges has now got an official stamp of approval from the University, thereby forcing the colleges to adopt such a draconian, anti-teacher and anti-student notification," he said.
He said the order mandates teachers work "even if there is no space for teachers to sit and work" and ignores the safety concerns of teachers and students commuting at odd hours.
Abha Dev Habib, a faculty member from Miranda House, questioned the logic behind the order, which potentially pushes first-year teaching to guest or less experienced faculty.
"This is no way to welcome a new batch into a university or discipline," she said.
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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
DU issues fresh anti-defacement rules ahead of polls
Delhi University on Friday issued a fresh set of guidelines based on a Delhi High Court order stating that candidates are now required to submit a ₹1 lakh bond to cover any damage caused by their supporters during the campaign for the upcoming Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections. Any student caught impersonating candidates or deliberately misspelling names on posters could face a fine of up to ₹ 25,000, suspension, or even expulsion. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO) The move, an apparent attempt to curb vandalism and extravagant campaigning, include mandatory affidavits, biometric checks, and steep penalties for violations. Students must also sign an anti-defacement pledge at the time of admission, similar to the existing anti-ragging declaration. Any student caught impersonating candidates or deliberately misspelling names on posters could face a fine of up to ₹25,000, suspension, or even expulsion. As per the Delhi Hight Court's directions issued in a related matter on November 11, 2024, traditional campaigning methods like rallies, roadshows, and the use of loudspeakers are banned. Colleges have been asked to expand designated 'walls of democracy' for poster display. Campaigning is to be conducted mainly through digital platforms and structured debates, which will be uploaded to the university website. The university will also set up 'Committees for the Prevention of Defacement of Property' at both the college and university levels, with member details published on notice boards and official websites. The notification further states that DUSU office bearers may book only three approved locations for official events and are barred from reserving university guest houses or hostels. Entry of outsiders will be restricted, and biometric or facial recognition systems may be used to monitor access. The guidelines are framed in reference to the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act (2007) and relevant court rulings.


Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
‘Would sing to pass time, sometimes we debated': How a Rs 12 pass connected Delhi University students riding the U-Special
It was the year 1997. Every Tuesday morning, just before the bus stopped at Tilak Nagar in West Delhi, this group of Delhi University (DU) students would be ready. Crumpled notes and coins would pass from hand to hand — Rs 5 here, Rs 10 there — until they'd scraped together enough to buy a small box of prasad from the corner sweet shop. One of them would get off the bus and bring back the sweet and the box would be passed around carefully between rows as the vehicle resumed its journey. For these students travelling from Mundhela Khurd, a village at the Capital's edge, it was a weekly ritual aboard the long green DTC bus called the U-Special. For many years, it ferried thousands of students from the city's border villages to DU's North and South Campuses. By the early 2000s, its numbers started dwindling. And by 2013-14, these buses vanished. Amit Singh, now a faculty member at Shyamlal College and a member of the National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF), was one of them. 'We were 12 or 13 from the same village. That Tuesday prasad was something to look forward to in a long commute.' He now teaches undergraduate students who arrive on scooters or take the Metro and may never have heard of the U-Special. But when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced Tuesday that the U-Special buses would be reintroduced, it bought back memories for many like Amit. 'The buses used to start early around 7.30 am and reach the college at 9 am. By 3 pm, it would pick up students after class and drop them home,' says Rasal Singh, Principal of Ramanujan College and a former DU Students' Union (DUSU) vice-president (2000). The U-Special wasn't luxurious. There was no air conditioning, no cushioned seats. Sometimes, the windows wouldn't open; sometimes, they wouldn't shut and sometimes even the seats weren't intact. But for students from Delhi's villages, it was a lifeline. 'It wasn't just about money it was also about safety and routine,' says Rajesh Gautam, a faculty member at Ram Lal Anand College, who commuted daily from Bawana while pursuing his MPhil at Hindu College in the late '90s. 'Many girls started coming to DU because of the U-Special.' The service, Gautam recalls, wasn't just efficient, it was an ecosystem. 'New students would learn the ropes from seniors about which professor taught what subject… it would be like an informal orientation to DU. We would meet a lot of students… it was inspiring and would motivate us to move ahead. Everyone was very helpful back then.' On some routes, the boredom of long commutes would give way to something more musical. For instance, the route from Mundela Khurd to Najafgarh, Dwarka Mor, Tilak Nagar, Rajouri Garden took over an hour. 'Students would sing to pass time… One voice would start, and before long, the whole bus would be humming,' Amit recalls. Sometimes, it was antakshari. Other times, heated debates about campus issues. 'That bus was where many of us learnt a lot of things. Back then the bus pass used to be Rs 12 for about 3 months,' Amit laughs. For students like him, the U-Special did more than just connect homes to classrooms. It created friendships, sparked conversations, and gave structure to a phase of life that was often uncertain and ambitious in equal measure. The buses began vanishing quietly in the early 2000s. Some chalk it up to the rise of private vehicles and the Metro. Rasal was among those who fought to keep the service alive. 'By 2000, the number of buses had started falling. We were pushing hard to increase them,' he recalls. 'After the '91 economic reforms, privatisation kicked in. More students got two-wheelers. And slowly, the U-Special was deprioritised.' But nothing, he says, replaced it. 'The Metro helps, yes. But it doesn't reach everywhere. And it doesn't offer what the U-Special did — direct routes, familiar faces, a safe environment, especially for girls from the outer districts.' In 2015, there was a brief, politically charged attempt to revive the U-Special, led by Delhi's then Transport Minister Gopal Rai weeks before the DUSU election. This was the same year when the Aam Aadmi Party's erstwhile student wing, Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, fought its first students' union election. But it fizzled out in weeks and students called it a gimmick to attract votes. In 2013, too, in an effort to expand the U-Special bus network, then Delhi Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami inaugurated three DU special routes from North Campus: Patel Chest to Shyam Lal College via Yamuna Vihar, Patel Chest to Najafgarh and Aditi College to Rithala Metro station. Rasal believes the current moment, with DU expanding its Four-Year Undergraduate Programme and pushing classes from 8 am to 8 pm, is the right time to bring the U-Special back. 'You can't stretch the academic day without making the commute safer and more reliable.'


Hans India
4 days ago
- Hans India
CM Rekha announces youth special bus for Delhi University
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