Even as several faculty members of Delhi University’s Economics Department have welcomed a new paper on ‘Economic Thought of Dr BR Ambedkar’, which will be taught to undergraduate students, they expressed concerns over axing a paper on discrimination. The new paper includes Dr Ambedkar’s views and understanding of various aspects of economic systems; theories of economic development; labour welfare; economic policy making; and other issues in the Indian economy during the colonial period. It replaced a new ‘Economics of Discrimination’ paper, which was decided in the Academic Council (AC) meeting on August 11 while introducing a series of changes to elective papers in the syllabus. As per a copy of the passed syllabi, “This paper enables students to explore Dr Ambedkar’s pioneering work in the field of economics and relevance in the contemporary world. analyse and evaluate Dr Ambedkar’s economic thought and its implications for social justice, equality, and inclusive development”. Said Monami Basu, associate professor of economics at Kamala Nehru College and an elected AC member, “The paper on Dr Ambedkar is welcomed by all of us. It talks about him as an economic policy maker during the post-colonial period, his thoughts on colonial economy. He stressed on the role of agriculture and farmers during the colonial period. His thoughts on how caste and labour are interconnected will also be taught in the paper.” Basu, however, added that the paper on discrimination was dropped without consultation with AC members, departments or committee of courses. “The main focus of how to understand caste discrimination has been diluted in the new Ambedkar paper. It’s about 10% of the paper now. There is no other paper in the entire syllabi on discrimination.,” said another professor who has been teaching economics for over two decades at DU, on condition of anonymity. The now-dropped paper was the only one that focused on the concept of discrimination in the UG economics syllabus, as per faculty members. It had themes such as gender and unequal burden of work; inequalities in access to land; and intersection of discrimination through race, caste, class and disability. The Indian Express had first reported on June 11 that the suggestion to drop three elective papers, including ‘Economics of Discrimination’, was made in an AC meeting on May 26 and opposed by faculty members of several colleges. V-C Yogesh Singh had then constituted a six-member panel to revisit the syllabi.
