Delhi University vice chancellor gets a mouthful & a rare pat at DU meet



It was the first-ever interaction between the vice- chancellor (V-C) and his students in the history of Delhi University (DU). But intriguingly, this session also served as a tacit acknowledgement — by the administration — of all that is seriously wrong with DU. Dinesh Singh assumed charge as the varsity’s new V- C about three months ago.

Monday’s interaction with almost 2,000 students invited from 67 affiliated colleges at DU’s newly constructed indoor stadium was his attempt to understand the problems they faced and seek their feedback to run the institution better.

Emboldened by the liberty to grill the V- C on Monday, the students did not miss the opportunity to make him swallow the bitter pill. They asked him uncomfortable questions that painted a grim picture of the state of affairs in DU. Inadequate infrastructure, outdated syllabi, neglect of physically- challenged students, unsafe college campuses, irresponsible attitude of college faculty — the V- C faced comments and queries on all issues.

“ I am blind and there are no books available in Braille for students like me. How do you expect us to study?” asked a female student of Maharishi Valmiki College of Education amid loud cheers and applause from the audience.

To this, Singh, an alumnus of Imperial College, promised in his immaculate Hindi: “ I am personally embarrassed by how we haven’t been able to do much for the physically challenged students of the university. I am aware of the difficulties faced by them. We have arranged for funds and my team is working on ways to mitigate these problems.” The interaction began on quite a positive note as the V- C announced a number of initiatives to improve the standards of education and student life at DU.

Among the flurry of announcements was one on the completion of the girls’ hostel for undergraduate students at the Dhaka Complex by June. Then there was the initiative to launch the university’s own Facebook page and an online system through which students can interact with the V- C. “ I have noticed that the students feel quite disgruntled by the communication gap or the lack of a proper channel of communication.

To address this problem, we soon launch a common helpline which provide and kind of information related to the university,” Singh said, to a loud cheer from his audience.

Given a chance to air their grievances and establish a direct link with the V- C, students now hope that such sessions become a regular feature. “ I am glad that he’s made an effort to talk to us. But this should not be a one- time affair. We should be able to apprise him regularly of what’s going wrong in our colleges,” said Shalabh, a Physics student.




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