Academics and ex-DU Vice Chancellor back Dinesh Singh

Coming out in support of DU Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh and the now-revoked FYUP, a number of academics, including former DU VC Deepak Pental, on Thursday warned of the "inherent" danger and "long-term fallout" if the university system is discouraged from introducing new ideas.

Seeking the intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the Visitor of Delhi University, 100-odd academics have written to him raising concerns over the manner in which, they alleged, the autonomy of the university was being compromised.

Without referring to the stand-off between the DU VC and HRD Ministry, they said that if a university system is "discouraged" from introducing new ideas and models, then the nation is likely to suffer.

"There is an 'inherent' danger of possible long-term fallout wherein no administration would dare to take new initiatives and programmes for reforming the education system," they said.

Stating that they are "perturbed" at the turn of events in DU, the group made an oblique reference to the scrapping of the FYUP by UGC, saying that "questions have been raised about what have been legitimately sanctioned and approved processes and programmes". They added that the intellectual and academic environment has been subjected to enormous stress.

Meanwhile, reacting to the show-cause served on the DU VC, Pental, who is part of the group which has written to the President, said, "The manner in which the matter is being dealt with by the HRD ministry is reflective of how the autonomy of the university is being compromised.

"It is not a matter of personal support but support to an institution. Whether the FYUP was right or wrong is a different debate, but serving a show-cause notice over that is not justified."

Pental added, "What was UGC doing when the programme was rolled out? If there were objections, they should have been raised then. He shouldn't be simply removed for introducing a programme."

The letter has been signed by ex-President of the Indian National Science Academy, Krishan Lal, former Director General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, SK Brahmachari, Keki N Daruwallla, ex-Vice President of the Indian Academy of Sciences and a host of academics from JNU, Jamia and Banaras Hindu University.