Remembering Ambedkar, DU students call for rooting out casteism

Delhi University students on Wednesday called to root out casteism from higher education at a public meeting held just two days ahead of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's birth anniversary.

The meeting on 'Cast Out Casteism: University of Ambedkar's Dream' was held in the wake of a string of steps taken by the Ministry of Human Resources Department (MHRD) lately, which have been criticised by the students.

One such issue is for granting 'autonomy' to individual colleges in the university, which the MHRD is in the process of testing with a few colleges.

"This is not autonomy. Autonomy was when we asked for freedom from the British. Autonomy means decentralization of power, not its opposite," Anil Chamaria, a noted journalist, said addressing students and teachers present at the open-air gathering.

He also criticised the current lot of college principals, who he said were stooges of the political brass and have no say in the administrative decisions.

The autonomous model suggested by the MHRD entails giving power to the colleges to administrate their admission process and to create their syllabi, under which the college expenditure, so far heavily subsidised by the government, will be curtailed drastically.

"We are opposed to autonomy because that will lead to a steep increase in the fees charged from students. So far subsidised by the central government, colleges will have to raise funds by increasing the fees. The university will become an elite space, only for the rich," Aman Nawaz, a research scholar and member of All India Students Association (AISA), which organised the event, told IANS.

Nawaz said there were seven colleges -- Hansraj, Venkateshwara, PGDAV (Evening and Morning both), Ramjas, St. Stephen's and SRCC -- which were asked to adopt the model.

"Lower caste students will become more vulnerable if this design becomes a reality," he added.

Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) President Nandita Narain also addressed the gathering.

--IANS

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