Under pressure after student protests, AUD reopens campus in phased manner. Will DU follow suit?

Some good news is in store for students of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Delhi. The varsity's administration sent out a notification yesterday, announcing a phased reopening of the campuses from December 22 to 25. This will give students access to common facilities, labs and tutorial services in small groups, said the notice. After a review of the situation, and in line with government guidelines regarding the COVID-19 scenario, a decision to fully commence offline classes on campus will be taken after December 27. 

Students have since been celebrating this as a victory of "organised movement." They have been protesting for the campus to be reopened completely since early October this year. This has involved conducting open-air classes on campus, and a survey, where almost 200 students said they wanted to return to college.

However, the students are not as yet entirely convinced about the administration's intentions. In a statement, the Students' Federation of India's AUD unit said that the notice does not address the reopening of the hostel and the canteen. Moreover, the students claim that the notice was issued only after the varsity's Student Council called for a protest during the upcoming convocation, which is to be held on December 22. "It is a tactical way to avoid any disruptions during the convocation, so as not to bring any bd press to the administration. We also take into account the pattern of false promises made by the administration and hence our struggle will not stop until the campus is completely opened," said the statement.

Similar protests have rocked Delhi University as well, with students' burning effigies of the Vice-Chancellor for the administration's lack of initiative on the matter. Sources have informed Edexlive that the varsity will probably take a call on the reopening after the ongoing exams, for a fresh semester, from January 1, 2022.