DU VC's 25-year strategic plan opposed by Executive Council 

On Friday, June 9, a document, Envisage DU 2047 (25-year strategic plan), was presented before the Executive Council that envisaged its plan to "continue to cut" the financial support from the government and develop innovative financial strategies for sustainability in the next 25 years

The document caused a furore on Friday, with a section of teachers terming it a "clear blueprint for privatisation". The approval of the plan was deferred by Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh after members raised issues over certain portions of it.

"I deferred it and asked to make the required amendments," the VC told PTI over the phone.

The VC said in the meeting that the next 25 years are very important for the country — "When the country will be celebrating the centenary of its independence, we will be among the developed nations. Therefore, the University of Delhi has also started preparing for its contribution to make India a developed nation in the next 25 years."

During the discussion, two EC members, Seema Das and Rajpal Singh Panwar, raised a strong opposition as they objected to the withdrawal from the government and being an independent body.

What did the document consist of?
The document seen by PTI mentioned that it has been prepared to strengthen DU's position as a leading multidisciplinary research-intensive university delivering economic, social and cultural benefits with excellence, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit at its core.

In the document, it was mentioned that the university will focus on six broad domains, namely:

1) Education and students' experience, research
2) University community
3) Campuses and local community connect
4) Industry collaborations and global impact, keeping in mind the core parameters of branding
5) Resource generation, philanthropy
6) Globalisation

The document mentioned that the university, which is seeing a decline in funding, should look for other alternatives besides just only relying on the Government.

"Financial support for higher education, healthcare and research has been and will continue to be cut. As an educational institution, the University of Delhi faces potential decline unless it can revitalise funding in ways that do not rely only on government funding," the document read.

Highlighting this section, Das said the strategic plan was deferred as it is a "clear blueprint for privatisation and contractualisation".

She added, "It clearly says that the present government has inflicted fund cuts on education, health and research. The document emphasised on fee hike, fundraising and to change the public-funded character of the university."

Meanwhile, Panwar, who is also a member of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) teachers' wing, said the document does not mention reservations for the SC, ST, OBC, PwD and EWS categories.

"The vision for the DU colleges is missing. The Academics for Action & Development Delhi Teachers Association (AADTA) will oppose such a document for privatisation and contractualisation as set by the NEP 2020 in the statutory bodies as well as on streets," he added.

Engineering in DU
The VC said that the Executive Council has approved the recommendation of the steering committee constituted for conducting programmes under the existing departments of the Faculty of Technology.  

The new programmes are BTech Computer Science and Engineering of the Department of Computer Engineering, BTech Electronics and Communication Engineering of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering and BTech Electrical Engineering of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

The university said, "It is worth noting that due to the NSIT (Netaji Subhas University of Technology) and the Delhi College of Engineering becoming separate universities, DU currently does not have technology programmes."

Now, DU has received the Ministry of Education's approval for the creation of 72 teaching and 48 non-teaching posts for its Faculty of Technology, it said.

"However, at present, only 14 teachers will be appointed to these departments. It is to be noted that the Steering Committee had recommended starting three BTech programmes from the academic session 2023-24," it added.

In the coming academic year, a total of 360 students, 120 for each BTech programme will be admitted and admission to these programmes will be done on the basis of the JEE Main score.

The university also said that the course structure, credit distribution and syllabi for the first two semesters of the programmes have been finalised.