Dyal Singh evening now Vande Mataram.

NewDelhi: The Governing Body of Dyal Singh College (DSC) on Friday passed a resolution to change the name of the erstwhile evening college to ‘Vande Mataram’.

 

However, before any other issue could be discussed, the meeting was called off as students from both morning and evening colleges came out to protest for and against the bifurcation.

The morning college students staged a dharna against “losing their infrastructure”. DSC (morning) teacher Premendra Kumar Parihar said that the college lacks infrastructure to accommodate more students during the same period. “After the conversion, resources will have to be shared between the two colleges. There have already been many tussles between teachers and students of both colleges over parking space and sharing other resources,” he added.

However, Bhawna Pandey, a teacher of the erstwhile evening college, said that “the bifurcation issue was with Delhi University and Dyal Singh should abide with the decision.

 

Viraj Kafle, a teacher of the morning college, said, “Before any other item on the agenda could be discussed, the meeting had to be called off by the chairman, Amitabh Sinha, as DU Students’ Union members started creating a ruckus.” DUSU vice-president Kunal Sehrawat tried to barge in the GB meeting and got involved in a scuffle with the policemen deployed there.

Sinha later invited students and teachers for an informal debate in the college auditorium where members of both sides raised their concerns about sharing of resources.

Evening college student Varun Rexwal pointed out that women’s safety was the prime reason why the evening classes were discontinued. The second-year student added that there were enough facilities for everyone to share. Sadaf Khan, a morning college student, however, countered his argument by saying that it was the “responsibility of the government to provide safety to students.

 

Speaking to media, Sinha said that the conversion of the college was a done deal. “There can be no roll-back on this,” he added. Requesting students and teachers not to politicise the matter, he suggested that a joint action committee should be formed to look into the matter.