DU: Student bodies to hold demonstrations demanding reopening of university

NEW DELHI: Various students organisations will stage protests to demand the reopening of the Delhi University (DU), after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority's (DDMA) gave a go-ahead to resumption of offline teaching in higher educational institutions from Monday. The student outfits said the campus has been closed for almost two years now and as a result, the "standard of education has gone down".

Despite the DDMA giving a go-ahead to the reopening of higher educational institutions from Monday, the DU has not issued any notification for the reopening of the campus. Officials have said the university will open in a few days and they will formulate a strategy in this regard. The student unions, including the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Left-affiliated All India Students' Association (AISA), have said they will protest against the DU authorities for not opening the campus immediately.

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In a statement, the RSS-affiliated ABVP announced that it will organise a massive movement for the reopening of DU. It said every college unit of the organisation will submit a memorandum to the respective principals on February 7, demanding the opening of the colleges immediately. The ABVP announced that it will also hold a full-day sit-in protest at the South Campus on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the students will register their protest by holding a daylong demonstration outside the venue of the Academic Council meeting at the North Campus, the statement read.

"The guidelines regarding the opening of schools-colleges of DDMA have been issued and now, Delhi University should also decide to open the campus immediately. Delhi University has been closed for almost two years and as a result, the standard of education has gone down," ABVP's national media convenor and state secretary Sidharth Yadav said.

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The Students' Federation of India (SFI) has called for a protest outside the vice-chancellor's office on Monday to demand the immediate reopening of DU in light of the DDMA guidelines issued on Friday. "Earlier, talks were held with the administration, they always stressed that the universities cannot be opened because of the DDMA guidelines," said Abhishek Kumar, co-convenor, SFI, Delhi University.

The All India Students' Association (AISA) has urged the students of the university to join the protest called by the SFI at the vice-chancellor's office. AISA, an affiliate of the CPI-ML, has called upon the students to boycott their classes and join the protest. "For several months, the DDMA guidelines were the sole excuse for the authorities to keep the university closed. Now that the DDMA has given a green light for the reopening of colleges, students demand immediate access to their campus. We appeal to all friends in the media to join and amplify the events of February 7," read a statement issued by the AISA.

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The DDMA has decided to reopen higher educational institutions and coaching centres, along with schools for classes 9-12, from Monday. Asked about the reopening of the DU colleges, vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh had said they would give a few days' time to the students to return to the campus. "If the DDMA allows 100 per cent seating capacity, we will definitely reopen the campus. But we will give a few days' time to our students, say 10 days, for returning to the campus since most of the students are from other states. We will formulate our own strategy," he had said. PTI VA SLB RC