They said the university had told them a committee had been constituted to look into their problems but 20 months later, they are yet to receive clarity from the university
Students of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) began a protest inside the campus against the “retrospective” implementation of the administration’s “arbitrary” decision to cancel the ‘Mercy Chance’ exams – given to those who are not able to complete their course in the stipulated time.
Students said the university had “abolished” the exams in October 2019, but around 150-200 students who had got admission prior to 2019 were also being stopped from availing their ‘Mercy Chance’ to clear their backlogs and get their degrees. They said the university had told them a committee had been constituted to look into their problems, but 20 months later they had still not received clarity from the university.
GGSIPU had issued a notification on September 11, 2020 stating that “w.e.f. May-June 2020 and onwards no ‘Mercy Chance’ is allowed and students are required to complete their courses in the stipulated duration of (N+4) Semester or (N+6) semester, only as applicable.”
Students said they had since written to various officials at GGSIPU to demand that there be no retrospective effect of the notification on them, and they be allowed to sit for the exam, but no such provision was given to them.
On April 4 this year, in response to an RTI query filed by a group of students, GGSIPU said a committee has been constituted and the regulation for special mercy chance was being formulated. The university also communicated the same to the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) after the students approached the DHE for some resolution on the matter.
However, students said they have no clarity on the issue yet – 20 months after the decision. They alleged they had also written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and other authorities on May 31 but they did not “pay heed to the concerned subject.” Government officials did not respond to queries by The Indian Express on the matter.
“Since we have not got any assurance till now, we were forced to hold a peaceful protest on Monday to make our demands. In these difficult times, as we step into an uncertain future, the University needs to stand with the students, not against them. The University needs to revisit its guidelines immediately and take a humane and rational approach in this matter. We have already suffered an irreparable loss due to such negligent behaviour of the university,” said a law student who did not wish to be named.
“We demand that the university revise its order of no Mercy Chance and conduct the examination as per the Guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission and Directorate Of Higher Education keeping the health and safety of the students on priority basis. On Monday after our protest, the Controller of Examination spoke to us and said he will sort out the issue in 10 days, so we have temporarily halted our protest,” he said.
However, students said they will resume the protest if the promise is not kept. And if their demands are not met, they would approach the Delhi High Court to seek relief.
GGSIPU PRO Nalini Ranjan did not respond to queries by The Indian Express.
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