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University: Has autonomy and dissent become a casualty

The recent death of a PhD student from university of Hyderabad has ignited the debates concerning the autonomy and role of student in discussing issues of national interest and the way diversity of thoughts are being handled. This assumes significance as 9 students who have committed suicide so far,(7 students in 2013 alone) belongs to Dalit community .

Issues and Measures that can be taken to prevent such incidents

• The problem of discrimination based on caste exists since time immemorial however since then Absence of proper institutional framework to deal with these kinds of situations, has made such incidents persisting. There is no proper safety net as far as students are concerned
• Student union belonging to political party aggravates the situation instead of dispute resolution through proper channels. Prevalence of politics in universities.
• Legacy and remnants of caste are reflected even today through students, teachers etc This needs to change on a progressive path.
• There should be institutional courses or sensitisation programmes based on issues like castism, sexism, gender ,age etc to make students more accommodating when it comes to such incidents.
• The landscape of higher education is diversified than ever before, people from all walks of life are stepping in to universities having diverse ideologies and back ground. In this case there is a need to teach or create an environment to live and respect the differences inside the universities.
• Government, students, faculty, university, must take responsibility in quelling the atmosphere of dissent by making university a laboratory to groom students and build citizenship character.
• The interference of government in such incidents is highly unjustifiable, and impermissible instead it should try to resolve the issue without any partisan and through by providing legitimate constitutional outlets.

Mains question: Paper 2 (Social justice)

Q.1) “Universities are becoming the centres of political vendetta” Critically examine