The students of Sri Venkateswara College (SVC) staged a protest at the college's front gate on February 4 against the proposed disaffiliation of the college from the University of Delhi and shifting it to Andhra University's jurisdiction. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wants it to be a part of the Andhra University to cater to the Telegu speaking students of the national capital. The Andhra government has also made a plea to the Centre to amend the 2009 UGC order disallowing a university's jurisdiction beyond the state by which it is established.
The protest was organised by the Students' Federation of India (SFI). "The students today are suffering from anxiety over their degrees. We enrolled at SVC with the hope that after graduating, we will receive a Delhi University certificate. But the proposed disaffiliation has resulted in doubt over our degrees and the value of the college as a whole," Precious, a student of SVC, said while speaking at the protest site.
The SFI also linked the move to the NEP, "The Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme under NEP provides the opportunity to set up offshore centres for selected institutions. A series of disaffiliation has begun starting with SVC and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce. The attempt is to bolster ratings of state university through this. The focus has shifted from improving education standards to how universities can improve ratings for the credit market. The provisions, including the IoE scheme, under NEP, is an attempt to commercialise the institutions," said Pritish Menon, SFI Delhi State Secretary.
SFI DU Convenor Akhil KM said that the very logic that the move will help Telegu speaking Andhra students in Delhi is flawed. "The Andhra government's logic that affiliating SVC with Andhra University will help more Andhra students get a higher education is flawed. The governments should increase the number of colleges and universities by increasing government spending on public education instead of shuffling already existing colleges. This move is a smokescreen, which does not increase the total number of seats available to students," he said.
