ABVP activists celebrate after DU scrapped the controversial four-year undergraduate programme. PTI
Union Human Resources Development minister Smriti Irani finally had her way as Delhi University on Friday finally scrapped its controversial four-year undergraduate programme and reverted to the earlier three-year degree course structure.
DU vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh accepted the UGC’s directive and said the university would revert to the old system and soon seek admission of students on this pattern. “In line with the UGC directive, the university has decided to roll back the FYUP. Consequently, the admission process shall be conducted under the scheme of courses that were in force in the 2012-13 academic session in all the colleges of the University of Delhi,” Prof. Singh said.
A 12-member committee of DU principals has also been set up to examine the issue of admissions under the three-year undergraduate course and admissions for the new session are likely to begin from next week.
Sources said DU’s decision came after Ms Irani put her foot down and ensured that the UGC reined in the university that had been insistent on continuing FYUP.
It is learnt that Ms Irani, on the advice of her party and senior officials, stayed away from directly intervening in the FYUP issue as it could have been misconstrued as interference in the working of an independent university. But she is understood to have directed the entire issue from behind the scenes, effectively using the UGC and its chairman Ved Prakash’s influence over the university to carry out the rollback.
Ms Irani tweeted on Friday: “I respect autonomy of Institutions however institutions were created to serve people of the Nation.” She then added: “within ambit of law this is the time for statesmanship which leads to resolution. don’t sacrifice interest of students at altar of prestige.”
DU’s earlier proposal for a partial rollback of FYUP was rejected Thursday, and even the university academic council’s decision to continue with FYUP was not accepted by the UGC.
The issue of DU’s four-year undergraduate course was one of the first to be discussed by the newly-appointed HRD minister with her officials. The UPA government had earlier planned to replicate it across all Central universities in a phased manner. The BJP, however, had been critical of FYUP, and alleged that implementation of such a programme would be a violation of the National Policy on Education, that mandated a 10+2+3 system. It also claimed that its implementation would hurt students by wasting one year of their productive output. The BJP youth wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, had been lobbying hard with the HRD ministry ever since the Narendra Modi government took office to scrap FYUP. The BJP is also likely to use its success in scrapping the FYUP as one of its key poll issues to attract young voters in the much-anticipated Assembly polls in Delhi.