HC seeks report from VC on grievance of disabled on 4yr course

Amid concerns that visually challenged students will suffer if the four-year undergraduate programme is introduced, the Delhi High Court today directed a Delhi University committee to consider these grievances within a month and sought a report from Vice Chancellor by July 3.
A bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath accepted the university's submission that an empowered committee has been set up to look into various grievances or suggestions for the four-year undergraduate programme which is to be implemented in July this year.
"In view of the submissions made by the counsel for Delhi University, the petitioner is given liberty to put forth all his grievances in writing to the said committee.... We direct the committee to consider them by June 15 and submit its decision before the Vice-Chancellor, who subsequently will file a report in the court by July 3," the bench said.

The court was hearing a PIL challenging the implementation of University's four-year undergraduate programme with multiple degrees in its present form.
Sambhavana, a registered society working for the welfare of differently-abled students, in the PIL filed through advocate Pankaj Sinha, said "if the four-year under-graduate programme with multiple degrees is introduced in its present form, the student with vision impairment will suffer irreparable loss as they shall not be able to participate in the main stream education system."
It said students with visual impairment are purely exempted from studying Science and Maths after class-VIII in same cases and after class-X in most of the cases.

"In case the existing approved programme is implemented, such students shall not be able to meet the requirements of the foundation course in the first year of the four-year undergraduate programme which contains a bouquet of 11 courses including Building Mathematical Ability and Science and Life mandatory," the plea said.
During the hearing, the university's counsel submitted that the Vice-Chancellor has set up an empowered committee which will consider the special needs of the students with disabilities and the petitioner can give his grievances for consideration.
The society said in the PIL that when the recommendations for the curriculum of programme were made, the same were being taken up in the meeting of DU's Academic Council (AC) and were approved by the Executive Council (EC) but the concerns of the persons with visual impairment were not taken into consideration by them.