Many students and academicians have come out to suggest that the recent government order that mandates universities to take prior permission from the Ministry of External Affairs for organising international webinars and online conferences would limit academic works carried out by them.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Education issued an order on January 15 that approvals were required for such conferences that discussed India's "internal matters" as well as those receiving foreign sponsorship. It said that international seminars and conferences could be discussing sensitive topics of India ranging from political and scientific matters to commercial and personal issues.
To this end, the students and professors of international relations said that they would be the most affected by the said order. They claimed that receiving permission from the government took a lot of time.
The Times of India quoted Moushumi Basu, an associate professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) Centre for International Politics, as saying that the order did not specify what constituted internal matters.
"International relations is a study beyond national security as we talk about agriculture, refugees, etc. How can holding a webinar threaten the sovereignty of the country? Academics talk to one another and create knowledge. This circular will put a brake on that," said Basu.
Students of JNU and Jamia Milia Islamia also suggested that requiring permission for webinars and virtual conferences would delay their academic activities as the process would be wrought with red tape.
On the other hand, others came out to say that the order was not really any different from the previous requirement to take permission for holding such conferences physically. Some also believed that the new order would help curb webinars being conducted without any permission.
It is not yet known what kind of penalty would be imposed by the government if the order was not followed.
