:The decision NOT to have admissions for Girls Hostel this year is blasphemous. The funds of UGC has been (mis)used. The Girls Hostel Fees were raised astronomically and the students were protesting against this.
In March 2014, seven teachers — Atul Gupta, Ish Mishra, P K Vijayan, Poonam Sharma Sethi, Ratan Lal, Rajesh Kumar and Sachin Vashistha — had written to L-G Najeeb Jung, alleging irregularities in the construction of the girls’ hostel. The L-G was the chief guest at the function to lay the foundation stone for the hostel. In the letter, the teachers alleged that the governing body had begun construction despite the proposal being rejected by the municipal corporation. They also alleged that the college had not sought clearances from agencies like the National Green Tribunal and the Delhi Jal Board.
Hindu College, one of the most prestigious colleges under the ambit of Delhi University had undertaken construction of a new girl’s hostel wing and a New Academic Block to upgrade the existing infrastructure facilities of the college at an estimated cost of Rs. 16.50 crores. The Chairman Sh SNP Punj in his appeal for funds had said that these projects are experiencing a shortfall of funds of Rs.7.50 crores. The donations would be exempted from Income Tax under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act.
Less than a month after tying to dismiss two teachers, Hindu College governing body had decided to penalise seven teachers for writing to the Lieutenant-Governor, alleging irregularities in the construction of a girls’ hostel.
“We have given them minor punishment for defaming the college and bringing harm to its name. The seven teachers will be subjected to annual increment cuts for two years and will be barred from any administrative role for five years,” governing body chairman S N P Punj had said.
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) opposed the decision. In a statement, DUTA has asked the Visitor (His Excellency the President of India) to intervene, stating that “the decision shows that the college is being held hostage by a vindictive management that will not tolerate any questioning of its dubious functioning."
Actually, this is another glaring example of how the prestigious Hindu College though being run by a Trust but in actuality is being treated as the personal fiefdom of the present Chairman of the Trust SHRI S.N.P.PUNJ, whose family or he personally has absolutely no contribution in the establishment of the College more than 100 years ago, but invokes all legal interpretation to literally claim that the College is his private property and the Teaching and non-teaching staff are his own employees. Sh Punj had notoriously tired to dismiss two OBC members of teaching faculty at Hindu College, who are fighting their battle in the court of law. In fact if you write his name on Google Search, you will get references to just many of the Court Cases, and later somewhere option of Hindu College will also come. The College Administration has been targeting a dalit teacher Dr Ratan Lal, a fit case for Action against Sh SNP Punj under Dalit Atrocities Act 2016.
Hindu College was founded in 1899, by Late Shri Krishan Dassji Gurwale. In the backdrop of the nationalist struggle against British Raj. Some prominent citizens including Shri Gurwale Ji, decided to start a college that would provide nationalist education to the youth, while being non-elitist and non-sectarian. Originally, the college was housed in a humble building in Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk, and it was affiliated to Punjab University as there was no University in Delhi at that time. As the college grew, it faced a major crisis in 1902. The Punjab University warned the college that the University would disaffiliate the college if the college fails to get a proper building of its own. But fortunately, Rai Bahadur Lala Sultan Singh came to rescue the college from this crisis. He donated a part of his historic property, which originally belonged to Colonel James Skinner, at Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, to the college. The college functioned from there till 1953. When the University of Delhi took birth in 1922, Hindu College along with Ramjas College and St. Stephen's College were subsequently affiliated to the University, making them the first three institutions to be affiliated with University.
Hindu College was a centre for intellectual and political debate during India’s freedom struggle, especially during the Quit India Movement. This is the only college in Delhi to have a Students’ Parliament since 1935, which in fact, provided a platform to many national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Subhash Chandra Bose for motivating the youth. Responding whole-heartedly to Gandhi Ji's Quit India call in 1942, the college played a leading role in India’s freedom struggle as some teachers and students of the college even went to prison and had closed its gates for several months.
Today, the Hindu College cannot be allowed to be an island of "private property" running on the public UGC funding at University of Delhi. If the University or the Union Government does not take timely and appropriate action, unrest and agitation in this prestigious Institution of University of Delhi is a foregone conclusion.
