UGC cracks whip on DU, asks colleges to begin admissions

New Delhi The UGC on Wednesday cracked its whip on Delhi University asking its colleges to start admitting students under the threeyear undergraduate course immediately The diktat may bring cheer to over two lakh students left in the lurch due to the ongoing tussle between the two bodiesA source in the University Grants Commission UGC told IANS that DU colleges have been told to begin the admission process which was deferred by the colleges Monday in the absence of clarity on the question of rolling back the fouryear undergraduate programme FYUP to the earlier threeyear courseThe UGC sent a letter to the DU at 830 pm Wednesday asking the university to begin admissions from Thursday A Delhi college principal however told IANS they have not received any communication yetEarlier in a letter to DU Registrar Alka Sharma sent Tuesday UGC Secretary Jaspal Singh Sandhu said You are to immediately issue letters to the Delhi colleges directing them to admit students in the threeyear undergraduate programmeMeanwhile DU in a statement said it has received today Wednesday a document from some eminent citizens outlining concrete suggestions for the solution of the current situation as it existsWhile welcoming this initiative the university is examining in detail the document and is working with the expectation that the admission process shall be able to commence soonThe statement was in reference to the 20member group comprising vice chancellors of various universities along with principals and professors of DU colleges who Wednesday put forth a proposal to resolve the impasse between the university and the UGCThe group appealed to the two bodies to consider providing a threeyear honours programme that is easily devised by reverting to several features of the old semester format and by drastically reducing the existing courses that are not of the honours stream and that exist in the current fouryear formatThe group includes St Stephens principal Walson Thampu Panjab University vice chancellor Arun Grover and Anil Tyagi vice chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University DelhiThe group also appealed for the validation of an honours degree in three years and said that the main honours courses may be increased to a total of 17The foundation courses may be reduced in number and may be offered only in the first year Further a choice may be built into the format for these courses the appeal statedAccording to sources the UGC standing committee which was set up June 21 to advise DU to migrate from the FYUP to a threeyear one will meet Thursday 5 pmFor the second day Wednesday students were confused over the admission process as the DU colleges were unsure about the roadmap on restoring the previous threeyear courseThis was despite the fact that 57 DUaffiliated colleges had agreed to the UGCs order of admitting students to the threeyear undergraduate course TuesdayThere are a total 78 colleges in the university and 27 lakh students have applied for admissions this yearThe Delhi High Court Wednesday also refused to hear a petition seeking restoration of the threeyearcourse and the scrapping of the controversial FYUP The Supreme Court had dismissed a similar plea TuesdayProtests for and against the FYUP continued WednesdayRepresentatives from various students and teachers organisations and individuals under the banner of the Save DU campaign held a meeting during the day and expressed concern over the continuing delay in the undergraduate admissionsHowever a clear picture emerged over the university vice chancellor Dinesh Singhs resignation with DU media coordinator Malay Neerav making it clear that Singh still holds the positionThere has been no progress on the matter We are still waiting for a clear cut directive from DU Despite sending a resolution to the vice chancellor Monday followed by a letter to the UGC we are yet to hear from the university Ram Lal Anand College principal Vijay K Sharma told IANS