Delhi University’s (DU) executive council (EC) meeting on Monday formed a four-member committee to discuss the inclusion of an official from the education ministry into the key panel amid concerns that arose following a recent letter from the central government.
Additionally, the 21-member panel during its meeting passed the Institutional Development Plan (IDP) and authorised the vice-chancellor to finalise it after taking into account suggestion from the EC members within the next two days.
In a letter on September 20, the Union ministry of education directed the university to make necessary amendments to include a nominee of the MoE secretary in the executive panel in what is said would help achieve uniformity in governance across all central universities.
The letter further mentioned that the current governance structure of 48 central universities was reviewed by MoE and a disparity in the representation of the ministry was observed in the executive councils of some institutions. Twenty out of the 48 universities reviewed have already included a representative, it said.
However, some panel members have expressed concerns regarding the effect of the move on the autonomy of the university, since nominees of the Government of India are already part of the EC. Following this, the vice-chancellor constituted a four-member committee to discuss the matter.
“Addition of a representative of Ministry of Education in the executive council is unacceptable as this would increase the interference of the government in day-to-day decision making of the university and adversely affect the concept of autonomy of the university,” a dissent note by EC members, Aman Kumar and Seema Das said.
Following this, the vice-chancellor constituted a four-member committee to discuss the matter.
The EC already has provisions for two representatives of the President, who is the university’s visitor as well as one nominee of the Vice-President, the chancellor of the university.
Rajni Abbi, proctor of DU who is part of the four-member committee, said, “The letter has to be discussed carefully as it is an order from the Government of India. Elected members were concerned about it affecting the autonomy of the institution. No deadline has been given regarding when we have to give our reports.”
Strategic Plan and IDP
During Monday’s meeting, the panel also passed the strategic plan, which is a vision document, and a revised Institutional Development Plan (IDP), which outlines measures to implement the vision with short term and long-term goals.
A few members, however, opposed IDP. Das, in a dissent note, said, “The proposed IDP gives emphasis on fund generation through private funding, increasing student teacher ratio, omitting the concept of elected representative in statutory bodies, depriving marginalized section of the society by ignoring reservation…. these guidelines have raised serious concerns about the future of public-funded higher education in India….”
Abbi said, “The VC has been authorised to take the final call on the IDP, the final version of which will be printed on Friday. EC members who opposed it have been invited to give their suggestions within the next two days, which will be considered and included.”
Language and medical courses
Among academic decisions, the panel approved the recommendations of the Faculty of Social Sciences regarding starting East Asian language courses in Ramjas College, Hansraj College and Ram Lal Anand College under the Department of East Asian Studies. Under this, advanced diploma courses in Korean will be started in Ramjas College; certificate course in Chinese , diploma in Korean and Japanese will be started in Hansraj College; advanced diploma course in Chinese and Japanese will also be started in Ram Lal Anand College.
It also gave its nod to starting a Bachelors course in medical laboratory science in the Department of Microbiology. The curriculum for the new course of Doctorate of Medicine in paediatric and neonatal anaesthesia course in the Department of Anaesthesia of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) was also approved.
Other important issues that came up in the meeting were extension of the lease of land allotted to Maurice Nagar police station, starting an employees provident fund (EPF) for contractual employees, and an increase in contractual fees of part-time medical officer, all of which were approved.
“Another agenda item regarding family members availing benefits under the old pension scheme in case of death during service of a government employee covered under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) was also considered and approved by the EC,” a senior DU official said.
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