Delhi-University.co.in» Infrastructure

Top Central Universities to form ‘Ivy League’

Delhi-University.co.in — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:36:26 +0000

Union HRD minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, has announced that like U.S and Germany, India will also have an Ivy League of topmost universities of the country within two years.

A committee to devise guidelines to identify these universities was formed on Saturday during the meeting of vice chancellors of pre-existing central universities, the minister announced. Out of the 22 central universities, VCs of 21 attended the meeting held on University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) campus.

The committee comprises vice chancellors of UoH, Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) among others.

According to Mr. Sibal, the universities in the Ivy League will be given complete autonomy without any government control in developing the staff, faculty, students and research and development. Seven VCs have been selected to form a core committee to oversee the activities of all central universities in the country.

One of the best thing about the formation of this Ivy league is the implementation of “credit transfer system” from the coming academic year. This system will allow the students from one university to attend the courses of other universities.

Poor Bus Service for South Campus Students

Delhi-University.co.in — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:27:35 +0000

If you have taken admission in any college near Dhaula Kuan or are planning to, then make sure you arrange for a way to reach there. The bus services to colleges like Sri Venkateswara, Moti Lal Nehru, Ram Lal Anand, Jesus & Mary, Maitreyi and the south campus have been miserable for several years and only a few buses ply on this route. The students have to either walk down till the main road and board the generally over-crowded buses or use a personal vehicle.

The problem started after the construction of the underpass at Dhaula Kuan nearly three years ago. Due to the underpass, the turn towards many of the colleges on the ring road stopped existing. Things have hardly improved since then. The main reason behind the scarcity of buses on this route is the fact that only DTC buses ply on this route.

Both the Delhi University officials and student unions have written to the transport department many times, but it seems that no measures have been taken to improve the situation.

Bamboo Classrooms in DU – No I am not Jokin

Delhi-University.co.in — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:30:40 +0000

You’ve heard of and seen bamboo houses, but classrooms? Yes, this is what many colleges in the Delhi University are planning, to meet the demand for extra space for thousands of additional entrants.

“We can’t keep waiting to hear from the local bodies for permission for construction. Fact is the college needs classrooms and we have decided to build them with bamboo which will have a capacity to accommodate about 45 students,” Savita M. Dutta, principal of Maitreyi College, told IANS.

Gargi, Sri Venakateswara, Daulat Ram, Maharaja Agrasen and Acharya Narender Dev colleges have also expressed their interest to greet students with classrooms and canteens built with bamboo instead of concrete.

This space crunch is said to be the result of additional 7000 seats this year. Last year, 42,000 seats were made available in the university whereas this year it has been extended to 49,000. “In a meeting a month ago, vice chancellor Deepak Pental suggested the use of bamboo as a material to build new classrooms,” said Sunil Sondhi, principal of Maharaja Agrasen College.

According to Delhi University administrative officials, the idea of these new bamboo classrooms originated from the bamboo hut canteen in the University’s south campus inaugurated a few months ago.

“Colleges like Sri Venkateswara, Gargi and Kirori Mal have got inspiration from the bamboo canteen and they plan to make classrooms from the same,” said Dinesh C. Varshney, deputy dean of students welfare (DSW), Delhi University’s south campus.

As expected, students, however, are not upbeat about the proposed bamboo classrooms. “If the fee is the same, how can they put one set of students in bamboo shacks and others in the concrete rooms? There should be equal infrastructure provided for everyone,” said Nikita, a third year student of Kamala Nehru College.

Anurag said: “I am ashamed of this decision, may be they will ask us to move into slums next year.”

Mohit, another student, said: “Why don’t the people who are planning to build bamboo classrooms have their offices made from bamboo.”