The regulatory body also urged the universities to make tourism a part of course curriculum of students to sensitise them about the sector
A letter from the UGC to the Vice-Chancellors of all the central universities encouraging them to organise excursions to northeast states has created an uproar among the faculty members at the Delhi University (DU) with many of them terming it a "political move".
In the letter, Jitendra K Tripathi, Joint Secretary, University Grants Commission (UGC), directed the universities to implement the ‘action points’ that emerged out of a recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the tourism sector. “Universities to be encouraged to organise excursions to the North East,” the letter said. The regulatory body also urged the universities to make tourism a part of course curriculum of students to sensitise them about the sector.
University officials, however, said that by mentioning a particular part of the country where the Assembly elections are scheduled next year, in its letter, the incumbent government is trying to“propagate its political agenda”.“I have been teaching in a central university since the last fifteen years but this is the first time that a government is asking educational institutes to take its students on a trip to a prescribed place,” said Rajib Ray, president of Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA).
Four northeastern states -- Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram - will go to the polls next year.
Earlier in 2014, around 600 DU students were taken on a trip to northeast states under the Gyanodaya project, an initiative by former DU Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Kumar.“The experience of DU in case of Gyanodya Express trip to the northeast states, when the students were taken to the temples and shrines on an educational trip, shows that how the ruling dispensation can use such visits to further its political agenda,”said Rajesh Jha, a member of Executive Council (EC), the university's highest statutory body.
Besides, the officials also called it another instance of ‘encroaching’ the university autonomy by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD). “This Office Memorandum (OM) does not take this fact into account that the study tours in colleges and universities are decided as per the needs of the curriculum and not their interest,” Jha added.
Despite several attempts Tripathi cannot be reached for a comment.
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