DU-UGC row over FYUP escalates; Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh resigns

NEW DELHI: Amidst the growing controversy in the UGC-DU row over FYUP, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh resigned on Tuesday, said the university's media coordinator Malay Neerav.

"Resignation is not enough, we want an inquiry into his term," said Dr Inder Kapahi, National Democratic Teachers Foundation (NDTF) after Singh's resignation. Earlier in the day B. Tech students had relented after meet with UGC. They had decided to call off protests following an assurance from the UGC.

Meanwhile, a group of Delhi University teachers in favour of the four-year undergraduate programme went on a 24-hour long hunger strike to protest against the University Grants Commission order for its roll back.

The teachers, under the aegis of Academics for Action and Development (AAD), alleged that the UGC's directive to DU was an "assault" on its autonomy.

"It is an attack on DU's academic freedom and autonomy by the UGC on the behest of Ministry of HRD and this hunger strike is to resist the attack on academic freedom of higher education institutions," S K Mishra, AAD's Press Secretary and Professor at DU, said.

Mishra said the outfit's president Aditya Narayan Mishra had yesterday through the media made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter.

Claiming all rules were followed in the introduction of FYUP, Mishra said, "The programme had been passed by the University Court, Academic and Executive Councils and then sent to the President, Visitor of the University.If no negative remark is received from him within a month, it is considered to be passed."

Students who took admission into the course as it was launched last year are concerned over the fate of their "experimental batch" in the wake of the stand-off between UGC and DU.

Any change in the duration of the undergraduate programme can also lead to the serious issue of double the normal number of students graduating in a particular year, which might lead to an unprecedented rush of students seeking admission in Masters programmes.

Meanwhile, the government today made it clear that it will not intervene in the matter and left it to UGC and DU to resolve the issue between themselves.

(With inputs from PTI)