Mood on the campus: Celebrations and anger over UGC’s FYUP order

“The Congress-led UPA government had supported FYUP by all means and, in fact, it was their plan to introduce foreign universities in India that led to FYUP being implemented. We fought against this plan of the UPA government. We made FYUP a poll issue by urging political parties to include it in their manifestos. The Delhi unit of the BJP listened to our demand and included it in their manifesto. Today, we thank the BJP for fulfilling its poll promise on this genuine students’ demand,” Saket Bahuguna, ABVP secretary, said.

At the university guest house, where AAD organised a press conference to speak out against the UGC order, a scuffle broke out between a professor and student activists from the ABVP when the latter allegedly threw a chair at the former.

“UGC’s order is not only a violation of the long-standing autonomy of DU since its inception in the pre-Independence days in 1922, but is also in contradiction with commission’s own rules, regulations and letters to DU, where it clearly states about freedom regarding the duration of course with cap only on the minimum number of necessary years for awarding a degree,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, AAD
president, said. He was accompanied by protesting teachers.

Students enrolled in BTech courses also turned up in large numbers to support FYUP. “We don’t know what is the fate of FYUP, but the university should definitely not scrap the BTech courses,” Ansh Goyal, a BTech student at Maharaja Agrasen College, said.
Meanwhile, St Stephen’s College continued with its pre-admission procedure on Monday.