Establishment of the Delhi School of Public Health and the Delhi School of Public Policy, a DU campus in Najafgarh and a hostel for foreign students are among a slew of initiatives to be undertaken by the Delhi University, vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi announced at the 95th convocation on Monday.
This year, the university awarded degrees to more than one lakh graduating students, he said, adding DU was the only central university that had been selected as one of the eight Public Institutes of Eminence. He said the aspiration of the university is “to help build the cyber shield of India, as well as that of the world”.
“We have set the process in motion by establishing the Institute of Cyber Security and Law. This is our major achievement of 2017-2018. The first batch of the students of the institute, who have joined the one-year programme, are present at the convocation,” he said.
He said DU has emerged as one of the few Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) in 2017-2018 “This is the result of a rigorous process of selection led by an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) pursuant to the UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017.
“The selection was done on the basis of assessment of both the past performance and future plan of action of each one of the 113 applicant institutions. The University of Delhi is the only central university that has been selected as one of the eight public IoEs, although a formal announcement is eagerly awaited,” he said.
The IoE status will enable the varsity to secure good financial support leading to new academic initiatives which would help serve the society better and thereby increase its ranking, he added.
Preliminary preparations were underway for the establishment of the Delhi School of Public Health and the Delhi School of Public Policy, both of which are envisaged in the IoE proposal, he said.
DU had been selected as one of the administrators of the Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP), he said.
“This innovative scheme has been launched by the HRD Ministry to develop future academic leaders. It will enable us to train these young minds in collaboration with a top ranking university in the world,” he added.
The process of revision and modernisation of most of the postgraduate courses was almost complete in substantive terms. In procedural terms, the final drafts of revised courses will be placed before the competent bodies for their consideration and approval, he told the gathering.
The varsity and the German government had developed an understanding to expand their partnership, he said. “German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, along with his delegation, visited DU in March and, on his initiative, a mechanism has been established to offer funding and opportunities of exchange programmes to our researchers and faculty members,” Tyagi said, adding it would enable them to access research facilities in German institutions. Tyagi said the varsity has launched a special drive to attract foreign students.
“We cooperate with various embassies and also with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). We have joined hands with the ICCR and plan to build a hostel for foreign students so that the housing facility constraint does not come in their way of studying at the University,” he added.
Among other initiatives, the varsity was planning to construct a hostel with the CSR support of the ONGC, he said.
“We deeply appreciate the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, which facilitated the CSR funding for the hostel project. Following the directions of the Delhi High Court, various government bodies and officials are working to enable the varsity to develop a campus in the Najafgarh area,” he said.
30 underprivileged children from the Delhi University Social Centre Co-Ed Secondary School, Maurice Nagar and ClE Experimental Basic School attended the convocation and were given 30 tablets loaded with useful study material by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
A total of 607 doctoral degrees, 39 DM/M Ch degrees, 168 medals and 36 prizes were awarded to the students during the convocation. After it concluded, students from the Delhi School of Journalism, staged a protest outside the Arts Faculty, saying their demand for adequate facilities had not been met despite assurances from the college administration. The ABVP also protested against the administration and accused them of delaying cancellation of admission of NSUI leader Akshay Kumar. An FIR had been registered against him for allegedly furnishing a fake degree this year.