A strong worded letter from UGC seem to have got the better of Delhi University VC Dinesh Singh who rolled back the controversial four year under graduate programme.
Singh who remained "adamant" all throughout as the controversy surrounding the programme unfolded was also under intense pressure from students seeking admissions to DU, as well as from different students' and teachers' bodies.
Over 2.7 lakh students have applied for admission to more than 54,000 seats in 64 colleges of the varsity.
A good number of them had come from other states and were putting up in hotels and with their relative in the hope that the stalemate will end soon.
In fact, Singh in his statement has said that DU recognises the need of the hour and it is of "paramount importance" to protect the interests of the students by ensuring the start of the admission process.
The UGC letter sent late last night to DU serving the varsity an ultimatum to start admission under the three year programme, sought to expose the contradictions in the six-point proposal that DU had sent to UGC as a compromise formula.
HRD ministry officials said the letter had left little scope for the beleaguered VC to pose a fresh challenge to continue with the four year programme.
The letter also said that "besides the critical issue of non-compliance with the binding 10+2+3 structure under the national education policy, it has emerged on record that the required mandatory procedure for amendments by the Delhi University has not stood carried out for these 44 under graduate courses and therefore the original structure as well as the position would continue to remain in existence".
The letter clearly mentioned that the necessary amendments for introduction of the four year programme were not even submitted to the visitor in terms of the applicable statutory provisions as informed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
With the VC's decision to role back the programme, Delhi University Teachers' Association has raised the pitch for his removal, maintaining that he had illegally introduced the programme. Several other student's body have also demanded his removal.
