On the controversial four-year degree course being implemented at the University of Delhi, replacing the current three-year programme, Union Minister of State for Human Resource and Development Shashi Tharoor said the Ministry’s intervention in it would set a bad precedent.
Replying to a volley of questions over an hour long social media programme, ‘Google Hangout’ he said the ministry’s role was to frame policy and see to it that all the due process were observed by the university authorities.
University of Delhi, which admits more than four lakh students each year, is in the process of replacing the three-year degree programme with a comprehensive four-year course from this academic year.
According to its administration, the new programme would provide flexibility to the students to exit after two to three years and return within a span of 10 years, if otherwise eligible, to complete their degree and/or honours degree.
However, the change has widely been opposed by apolitical and political parties. The Left had approached the PM to intervene and the latter has assured the Left to look into the matter.
CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury had moved a special mention on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, objecting to the hasty manner in which the university was trying to implement the four-year system from July.
In response to the memorandum signed by almost 40 MPs from various parties and addressed to the Prime Minister, Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister M M Pallam Raju on Friday said the Centre was looking into the issues but stressed that the momentum that is being generated towards its implementation should not be derailed. Delhi University vice chancellor Dinesh Singh, has gained many supporters and enemies alike. There have been rumours about his ‘friendly’ associations with Tharoor. “They are from the same batch of St. Stephen’s College and it is natural for the minister to abstain himself from commenting on the matter,” said a professor at the university.