FYUP dispute: Professors begin hunger strike outside VC's office

At least 15 Delhi University (DU) professors are sitting on a hunger strike outside the Vice Chancellor’s office in favour of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), with more expected to join, CNN-IBN reports. [caption id=“attachment_1585985” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Agencies[/caption] The DU teachers are protesting against the removal of FYUP, a demand made by other teachers and student unions. The protest also comes in the wake of the University Grants Commission’s order to DU to scrap the FYUP and instead conduct admissions under the three-year undergraduate programme. UGC had given DU time till Monday afternoon to comply with its direction. The university, however, did not send any communication to UGC about abiding by its direction. As a result, UGC issued a reminder to Delhi University to submit the compliance report on its order. The row over the FYUP has taken a new turn with colleges affiliated to Delhi University on Monday deferring admissions to the academic session 2014-15. After an emergency meeting of the Principals Association of Delhi University, its president SK Garg announced that they had decided to defer the admission process, which was to begin on Tuesday, until clear-cut guidelines are issued by the competent authority regarding the matter. Moreover, according to CNN-IBN, Former Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) president also said that the FYUP dispute was a result of a conspiracy hatched by the HRD ministry and UGC, adding that they wanted students to leave for private universities.