Delhi University is considering on waiving of fee for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) students. The University is likely to introduce means-based fee waiver for SC/ST students.
DU Registrar Alka Sharma has said that details of the proposal are required to be worked out. Either the proposal has to be cleared by the Executive Council or has to introduced by the Vice-Chancellor using his emergency powers.
As per sources, the Delhi University SC/ST Teachers' Association had been asking the authorities to waive fees not just of SC/ST students but of all students from economically weaker sections. Dhani Ram, president of the association has said that they agreed in principal and said they would set up a committee to work out the development.
In addition, one of the major concerns that the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) imposed was the added financial burden that it would bring to students who already struggle to pay the bills. Besides, along with tuition fee-waiver, there have also been public statements by university officials promising waiver of development fee by the colleges.
Moreover, this policy, if implemented, is anticipated to impact thousands of DU students, not everyone is impressed. Hany Babu, member of the English department and of advocacy group, Alliance for Social Justice, which connects students, teachers and administrative staff belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minorities communities in Delhi University and outside, sees this as another sop.
Furthermore, he has added that as far as he understands, this doesn't rest on the university alone. The colleges need to decide. This is part of the university's policy of allurement. If they were serious about this, they would've already done it for the three-year programme. He added that he don't think it's feasible.
