Proposal to drop Ambedkar course: DU Standing Committee meets, recommends options

The Indian Express first reported on this matter on May 23.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dean of Arts faculty and Standing Committee member Amitava Chakraborty said, “The Standing Committee in its meeting on Tuesday passed three papers on Indian thinkers which include B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Vivekananda for the consideration of the Academic Council. The committee has further suggested that two more papers should be added, one on a woman thinker and the other on a socialist thinker.”

Chakraborty further stated that these will be presented in front of the Academic Council meeting on May 26 for their final approval.

The DU’s Department of Philosophy had strongly opposed a suggestion from the university’s Standing Committee on academic matters to drop an elective course on B R Ambedkar’s philosophy from an undergraduate programme, and had requested Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh to retain the course.

According to sources, the suggestion to drop the course from the BA Programme (Philosophy) – first made on May 8 — was discussed in the meeting of the department’s postgraduate and undergraduate curriculum committee held on May 12.

The Standing Committee’s suggestion came as part of the curriculum review being undertaken based on the National Education Policy 2020.

However, members of the Standing Committee told The Indian Express that no changes have been made yet and the final decision rests with the Academic Council, the apex decision-making body on academic matters.