University of Hyderabad: Students protest no protest affidavit

The University of Hyderabad is no stranger to protests or student agitations. However the university administration has now made it mandatory for students to sign an affidavit at the time of admission agreeing that they will refrain from taking part in protests or criticize the university and administration publicly including on social media.

Students burnt the affidavit in protest declaring that it was a violation of UGC’s Student Minimum Entitlement guidelines 2013. “I find this similar to when Sunaina Singh [currently VC of the English and Foreign Languages University] tried in 2015 to make students sign the same undertaking which turned a vibrant campus into a prison,” said R Ananthu, a student of MA Philosophy. “The administration here headed by Appa Rao thinks that such a document can be  enough justification for disciplinary action against students and with more chances of being held in the admin’s favor if challenged in courts. This is just another step in the BJP government’s plan to slowly put an end to students’ agitations which they found difficult to contain in one go during 2016,” added Ananthu.

The affidavit came at a time when the Students’ Union is already taking up a “Occupy Admin” protest since Wednesday citing several discrepancies in the admission procedures for M.Phil/Ph.D seats in the coming academic year. The students allege that the administration insists on calling fewer number of students in contrast to the approved intake list which was published on May 31, 2017. For instance, the list clearly mentions that the intake for M.Phil Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy is 12 and Ph.D Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy is 8, while their media release specifies the intake as 7 and 6 respectively.  “The reservation system works on the well established and mandated roster point system, where a ST seat becomes available only if the intake is eight. This intake is not possible in many departments and centers given the faculty resources and the UGC notification 2016 that limits the number of students a faculty can guide at any time,” said the administration’s media release.

Besides, in some cases, the administration has arbitrarily cancelled the interviews for some M.Phil/Ph.D courses despite their announcement in the prospectus. “It was after conducting the exam for M.Phil Indian Diaspora, Ph.D in Indian Diaspora and Ph.D in Human Rights that the administration informed that there will be no intake of students owing to the lack of supervisors, along with the other results published on June 26. The university is answerable to the students for this injustice,” said Kuldeep Singh Nagi, the Students’ Union President.

“Chapter 8 of the Academic ordinances of University of Hyderabad framed in accordance with UGC Regulations, 2016 clearly states that once the intake is declared in the prospectus, it cannot be changed. But the administration is doing it without prior notification,” observed Munna Sannaki, President of Ambedkar Students’ Association.

The absence of ST candidates in several interviews reveals the administration’s callous attitude as well as the right-wing agenda to secure higher education within the hands of the privileged. Out of 39 Ph.D courses in the university, 16 have not called a single ST candidate; out of the 16 M.Phil courses, 4 have not called any ST candidate. The possibility of a seat cut also cannot be ignored despite reassurances from the Academic  Council.