NLU tells Dalit student to pay Rs 6 lakh

NEW DELHI: The National Law University (NLU) has been pulled up by its equal opportunity cell (EOC) for asking a Dalit student from Telangana to deposit Rs 6.18 lakh as fees and mess charges and asking him to pursue his case of scholarship with the ministry of social justice and empowerment on September 13.
The student, Avinash Mullangi, has alleged discrimination for the past two years due to which he not only missed out on promotions but also his Government of India scholarship.Mullangi belongs to a poor family from Hyderabad and his mother is a farm labourer. He also alleged discrimination by the deputy CM’s office and an inquiry was ordered on August 8 only after the CM’s office intervened.
The EOC in its report stated that had the examination committee taken prompt action and appropriate steps, worsening of the situation could have been prevented. It recommended that NLU take proactive measures to ensure that Mullangi’s scholarship is restored.
Mullangi came to Delhi in 2012 to study law, but it was not a smooth start for him both academically and financially. He claimed that he literally “begged people to sponsor his higher education” for which he had to discontinue his integrated MA (honours) course at Hyderabad Central University. In the first year at NLU, he could not complete nine projects and failed in all five subjects as he was not computer literate and had no laptop. “However, I was granted approval by the vice-chancellor to repeat papers and I also performed well in my second semester examinations,” Mullangi said.
Though his status on promotion remained uncertain, Mullangi continued to attend second-year classes. “I wasn’t allowed to give the mid-term exams and as I hadn’t submitted the projects, I wasn’t allowed to sit for the term-end papers as well. After my vacation, the then convener of examinations and registrar checked my theory marks of the first two semesters and even without adding project marks I was passing in four out of 10 subjects. I was then provisionally allowed to sit for the third and fourth semester repeat papers,” he said.
Things turned difficult for Mullangi from June 2014 after the registrar and convener were changed and all waivers were disallowed.
His case was taken up by the students’ body. An associate professor on September 17 wrote a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) to the administration stating extreme insensitivity and inhuman treatment by NLU to Mullangi. “I consider the recovery notice of Rs 6,18,107 as dues of the university fee and mess charges nothing but abetment to commit suicide for Avinash,” he wrote. The registrar was not available for comments despite calls and text messages by TOI. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, VC Ranbir Singh wrote to the EOC and Mullangi that an emergent meeting of the Academic Council and Executive Council be called on September 27 to resolve the issue.