The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

Finding appropriate accommodation in a new city isn't always easy for out-of-town students but getting it right is half the battle won

It is that time of the year again. Admissions are on in full swing. Most colleges and institutes in India are all set to welcome a new batch of students. From the latter's point of view, the process is fraught with a mix of hope and anxiety. What will life on the campus be like? How will the new classmates be? Questions galore, but for out-of-towners, it is the hunt for hostels and paying guest (PG) accommodation that is of primary concern.

As students outnumber rooms available in college hostels, outstation students opt for private hostels and PG units. Another big draw: these facilities do not impose strict deadlines and generally tend to provide superior services.

Finding an accommodation might not seem as tough as landing a seat in Delhi University but it is still a daunting task. This year DU hostels have a limited number of seats available as most of the units are undergoing an overhaul to receive tourists for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. So locating a room that is light on the pocket and not too far from the college might take some doing. But there is always hope.

For students studying in DU's north campus, there are plenty of options. Around 100 paying guest accommodations and independent rented rooms are available in Kamla Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Roop Nagar, Kingsway Camp, Model Town, Maurice Nagar and Hudson Lane. If you choose to stay on Mall Road, you may have to shell out something between Rs 6,500 to Rs 12,000 per month depending on the facilities that you avail.

Accommodation in Vijay Nagar and Hudson Lane costs anything between Rs 3000 and Rs 5,500 a month. The rate of PGs in Roop Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar varies from Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 for AC rooms and Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 for non-AC rooms.

Aanchal PG accommodation in Roop Nagar, Shanti Niketan Hostel and Sahni's Hostel at Timarpur and Aparna Girls' Hostel in Kamla Nagar are some famous names. Most hostels provide basic facilities along with a library, gym, and a recreation room. 'The rented rooms range from Rs 4000-Rs 6000 and PG facilities cost Rs 5,000 per person on twin sharing basis. The rate covers facilities like a chair and table, TV, cooler, common bathrooms and dining rooms, but one has to pay Rs 1,000 more for food,' says Rohit Chahal, state joint secretary, ABVP, and a student of MA, Buddhist Studies, in the Faculty of Arts, Delhi University. 'Girl students willing to spend a little more can also opt for Manik Niwas, a girls-only PG accommodation. Built two years back, it is located in Kamla Nagar. 'We have 20 air-conditioned fully-furnished and wi-fi enabled rooms. We provide breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening tea and snacks and a common reading room,' says 30-year-old JP Singh, the owner. Singh owns another PG unit for girls, Simran Niwas, situated in Jawahar Nagar. In both places rooms are available at Rs 8,000 per month on twin sharing basis. Safety is of utmost importance for girl students staying away from home. 'We have installed CCTV cameras in our building and security is available 24X7. Also, we do not allow girls in after 9 pm,' adds JP Singh.

As there are only three University hostels in the south campus, PG options are available in areas like South Extension, Greater Kailash and Sarojini Nagar. Of late, Satya Niketan has emerged as a hotspot for PG units and is very popular among students from the Northeast. These localities offer accommodation ranging from Rs 3000 to Rs 8000 a month.

PG units and rooms on rent are also available in east Delhi and these are much cheaper. Single rooms in Laxmi Nagar, Shakarpur, Mayur Vihar-I and Patparganj are available for as little as Rs 3,500 or 4,000 a month. The owners provide students with a host of facilities ' from daily meals to 24-hour power back-up.

Pune, too, has emerged as an education hub and is a hot favourite with the student community. The city also pulls in students from abroad. If you are looking for PGs in Pune, you can choose from areas like University Road, Shivajinagar, Sadashiv Peth, Karve Nagar, Koregaon Park, Erandawane and Viman Nagar. If you stay in Fergusson College Road or Deccan Gymkhana, the monthly rates per person range from Rs 2500-Rs 3000, in Model Colony the range is Rs 3000-Rs 5000 and on Law College Road PGs cost Rs 3000-Rs 6000.

Most students do not opt for college hostels because of the high fees and also because preference is given to NRIs and foreign students. Sanjivani Thakur, a former student at Symbiosis, shares her experience, 'I stayed in a PG called Shantiniketan on Senapati Bapat Road as our college hostel was expensive. We were eight girls staying together in a two-room apartment. We had four cots in one room, a steel cupboard and one table and chair. We paid Rs 4,000 per month and extra for electricity that was shared by all of us. We had to pay six months' rent in advance and we availed tiffin service from outside.' But Sanjivani had a bitter experience staying there as her landlady was very dominant and the lack of security led to some unpleasant incidents.

Renting flats in Pune might not be a favourable option. For 1BHK you have to pay Rs 8000 to 10000, for 2BHK Rs 9000-12,000 and for 3BHK the price varies from Rs 12,500-Rs 15,000. A furnished flat might cost you around Rs 20,000.

Bangalore is home to prestigious institutions such as IISc and IIM. Excellent climate, a charming ambience and wide-ranging facilities for leisure activities are the other advantages the city offers. Students who prefer a PG unit over a college hostel can look for options in areas like Kammanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Indiranagar and Adugodi. Koramangala, although a little expensive, is favoured by many. Priyanka Sen went to Bangalore to study at the Christ University, located on Hosur Road, which is adjacent to Koramangala. She stayed at a girls' PG named Aishwarya near her college. 'My PG is well-known and accommodates girls only from Christ University. The timings were pretty lenient and a security guard was always present in front of our building.' But her stay cost her lot. 'For a bedroom shared by four, I paid Rs 4,700 per month. It included the facilities of a washing machine, a microwave and a fridge along with two meals a day,' says Priyanka.

Preeti, another student of Christ University, opted for the college hostel because it was a new, spacious and clean building. But she was soon disappointed as she had to go without the promised kitchenette facilities and even had to forgo hot water in the winters!

'During my one year in the hostel, every single month I had to see a doctor for some illness or the other. Also, with the lack of cooking facilities, my eating habits became terribly unhealthy, and expenses soared too,' says Preeti. Ultimately, she chose to rent an apartment along with a friend as she was shocked to see the condition of some PGs. Although PGs would cost around Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 for small tiny rooms, Preeti spent Rs 4,000 every month for the rented place, including electricity, food and Internet.

In Koramangala, one can stay at Aruna Paying Guest that offers one room with attached bathroom on sharing basis at Rs 2500 a month but one has to make one's arrangements for food. One also needs to deposit Rs 10,000 as security money. The other PG unit for girls is Tara Manjunatha Girls Hostel in Yelahanka Bazaar.

Bhubaneswar is another city that is fast emerging as an education hub. There are more than 50 engineering colleges and management institutions here. Most students depend upon college hostels or private facilities. Students residing in private hostels have to shell out Rs 1000-Rs 1500 per bed per month and make their own arrangements for food. The college hostels charge Rs 1500-Rs 3000, including water and electricity. An AC room can cost Rs 7000-Rs 8500 per student. Hostels here are, as a rule, situated near the institutes that they cater to.

In Bhubaneswar, girls and boys can stay in PGs in Laxmi Sagar and Rasulgada respectively. Laxmi Sagar area is near the Bhubaneswar main railway station. They provide all facilities, food, security, water and electricity at prices starting from just Rs. 1100 per bed. A five-minute walk from Infocity, IT Park, Patia, there are fully-furnished boys' hostels that also provide mess, laundry, parking and security. Sailashree Vihar and Ravi Talkies Square are other places where you can rent a room.

In Chennai, the educational centre of South India, many private colleges are located on the outskirts of the city. Therefore, areas like Porur, Poonamallee, Tambaram, Pallavaram, Chromepet, Kattankulathur and Guduvanchery are swarming with students. Like in other cities, students prefer PGs.

However, Muhammed Yasin, a second year MBBS student at SRM Medical College, Kattankulathur, resides in his college hostel as he likes to stay with fellow students. He pays Rs 65,000 per annum, including food and room rent. For AC rooms, the fee is Rs 95,000 a year.

There are around 2000 private hostels in and around Chennai where students and working women stay. It includes only accommodation and no food. Amoz Raj, warden of Holy Angels Hostel in Zamin Pallavaram, a Chennai suburb, says, 'Our hostel has 26 girls. Many are from north India. We charge Rs 3000, including room rent and food, and also provide facilities as per their needs.' For electricity, an additional Rs 3000 is charged.

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Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

If a move to bar students from college-level politics succeeds, Indian democracy will be much the poorer in the long run

Student politics has for decades been the breeding ground of future leaders. And not just in India. Historically, students and youth brigades, just as much as workers and intellectuals, have fuelled revolutions and popular movements all over the world. From Sorbonne to Soweto to Tiananmen Square, the story has been much the same. But if some bureaucrats and university administrators have their way, 'democracy' in Indian colleges could soon be a thing of the past.

It all began in 2006, when, under the aegis of the Supreme Court of India, a committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the then Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh to recommend ways to improve the functioning of students' unions and their elections.

After much dilly-dallying, Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) office-bearers were granted ten minutes to present their case to the Lyngdoh Committee. Mr Lyngdoh asked them point-blank: 'Why not ban students' unions?' In response, the then DUSU president Jaivir Singh Rana narrated the story of a student of a private engineering college in Delhi who had committed suicide.

The student killed himself for his future had been ruined by administrative negligence. Instead of helping him, the whole system stood by the college administration. A clerical error showed that he was absent in a subject test. The student kept insisting that he had appeared for all his exams, but the college administration paid no heed. The student failed.

He was from a poor family and had taken an education loan to study engineering. Rana pointed out, 'In his suicide note, the student mentioned not only his helplessness, but also wrote that if his college had a students' union, he would not have taken the extreme step. He suggested that a students' union should be mandatory in every college.'

Having heard the story, Mr Lyngdoh and his committee held a detailed discussion with DUSU on how to improve students' unions and make them more effective. It is a common notion that students' unions are today criminalised, having been overrun by hoodlums and antisocial elements. Mr Lyngdoh was also probably under the same impression.

Today the Lyngdoh committee's recommendations are being implemented across the country. Some of the recommendations seem impractical and have resulted in weakening of the student movements. The reality is that despite their obvious drawbacks, students' unions not only work to safeguard the interests of the students, they also from time to time serve as a pressure group by actively intervening in local, regional and national matters.

Given the way private universities and educational institutions are mushrooming in the country, student unions are an essential part of campus life. Former student leader Srikant Sharma says, 'A student union protects students from the whims of the college administration.' It is a fact that some unions have seen an infiltration by undesirable elements. They need cleansing, not banning. A students' union is a platform that raises its voice against arbitrary governance of colleges and universities and highlights their wrongdoings. That is why teachers and university bureaucrats do not want to promote student politics on the campus.

Two examples would be enough to demonstrate the power of students' unions. In 1999, Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) went on strike for 21 days. This strike affected the students in a big way as it cost them precious study hours. DUSU president Jaivir Singh Rana ran a movement demanding at least 180 days of study time and forced the university administration to complete all syllabi before the examinations. For the first time in the history of Delhi University, classes were held on Saturdays and Sundays.

The second event also created history in Delhi University. Rana says, 'In Delhi University, 75 per cent attendance is mandatory for students. But this rule does not apply to teachers. We did a survey and found 71 teachers who were not regular in taking classes in colleges. We complained to the VC. When no action was taken against the errant teachers, we displayed their names on a hoarding at Kranti Chowk. The teachers resumed taking classes from the very next day.'

Students' unions are not just a means for solving problems that students face. They are the first step in the nation's democratic process, through which students not only learn the intricacies of politics but also take active part in elections. When Emergency was clamped in India, the first sparks of protest emanated from university campuses. Young BJP leader Kuljit Singh Chahal, who joined active politics after a stint in a students' union, says, 'Student politics helps in understanding the pulse of the country's youth. How can one talk about banning students' unions in a country where two-thirds of the population is made up of youth? There are uneducated and criminal leaders in today's politics. If you want to eliminate such leaders, student politics should be encouraged. The nation will get educated and young leaders will be groomed on university campuses.'

Jayaprakash Narain's student movement is testimony to this. Many leaders from that agitation are playing an active role in the Parliament today. Who can forget the late Chandra Shekhar, former Prime Minister and a Young Turk who emerged from the hurly-burly of student politics. Arun Jaitley, Ajay Maken, Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and Lalu Prasad Yadav, among many others of their ilk, did likewise, leaving a mark on national politics. In order to understand the importance and strength of students in a democracy, we must mention former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. As a student leader, he led an agitation against infiltration by foreigners.

Mahanta's party, Asom Gana Parishad, ran its electoral campaign from hostel rooms and the university campus. From a ramshackle university hostel room to the citadel of power, in Assam the transition for student leader Mahanta was phenomenal. National president of Socialist Students' Meet, Dr Sanjay Latharar, raises a legitimate question, 'When our university can produce doctors, engineers. scientists and bureaucrats, why not political leaders? Today, the nation needs good leaders. So instead of banning students' unions, teachers and universities should encourage students to go into politics.'

A sharp dichotomy is inherent in our general attitude towards politics. While most parents would wish to see a drastic improvement in the quality of political discourse in the country, they are usually highly reluctant to let their sons and daughters enter politics. Political activists on college campuses believe that the growing societal bias against students' unions stems from this anomaly.

A student leader at Hyderabad's Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, T Mohan Chari, says, 'Student politics not only creates awareness, but also helps in understanding different issues of the world. It helps develop leadership qualities.'

Says student activist Madukeshwar Desai, president of the Young Leaders Collective, 'In the best colleges and institutes of India, students play an active role. On these campuses, everything from the disciplinary committee to the mentorship programmes is run by students. Bodies are elected and, with the guidance of the management, are run efficiently. The merits of allowing students to help build an institution lie in front of us. If autonomous colleges and deemed universities want to reach the highest standards, they have to accept that student empowerment is the only way forward.'

In the past two decades, students' unions have seen a definite decline all over the country and there is a need to reverse the trend. Yet, the relevance of the participation of students in college-level political activity cannot be denied. But now the university administration and bureaucrats are conspiring to end students unions. The Lyngdoh Committee recommendations are largely to blame.

Youth Congress national general secretary Nadeem Javed says, 'The Supreme Court constituted the Lyngdoh Committee to improve students' union elections. This committee gave extremely impractical recommendations regarding election expenses, methods of selecting candidates and publicity. University and college administrations, under the guise of these recommendations, are working to eliminate student politics. Jawaharlal Nehru University and Allahabad University have had no students' union elections in the past two years.' Coming to think of it, JNU and Allahabad University were once centres of active student movements that had a nationwide impact.

Lathara gos to the extent of suggesting that 'colleges should necessarily run a course on the subject of democracy so that students can understand the nation's political system'. He adds: 'This will help us in creating better leaders for the future.' Unfortunately, that does not seem to be in sync with the view held by those who have the power to decide.

Arindam Chaudhuri GIDF Planman Consulting Business & Economy 4Ps Business & Marketing The Sunday Indian The Human Factor The Daily Indian Kkoooljobs.com Amaze, New Delhi IIPM Old Brochure IIPM 4Ps Quiz Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Alternative Budget For IIPM Students

Ragging rights and wrongs

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

Many steps have been taken in recent years to weed out ragging from campuses; but worries still nag college freshers and their parents. Aliya Abbas finds out why

School is behind you. You are ready for life in a college. There is excitement in the air. But amid the burst of activity an indefinable fear lurks in your heart. You have heard horror stories about bright young freshers being mentally pulverized by seniors on college campuses around the country. The dread of ragging psyches you out of your mind.

Indeed, ragging is rampant across India despite the authorities threatening stringent measures against the perpetrators. Once treated as a mere initiation ritual, it constituted largely harmless ribbing senior students indulged in to welcome newcomers to the campus. It was all done in jest and good humour. Ragging remained within civilized parameters. In recent years, however, the practice has assumed 'illegal' proportions. As ragging crosses the limits of acceptability, it is important for new students to know their rights and stand up for them. An anti-ragging law is in place.

Over the years, ragging has metamorphosed into something ugly. In the 1980s and 1990s, it used to be limited to undisruptive acts that usually culminated in singing, dancing and bonhomie. But in recent years, ragging has turned nasty, even life-threatening. Physical assaults, sexual abuse and mental torture have scarred many students for life, forcing some to opt out of their colleges, some to take the extreme step of killing themselves.

Prof. Raman Rao, principal, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, says, 'It is our duty to protect the interests of each student. They come here with high hopes. Every college or university in the country should take stringent measures to stop ragging.'

No law can be effective until people are aware of it. Says Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education), a Delhi-based NGO, 'There is a need to define ragging. Before making laws, one has to accept ragging as a social evil rather than as a mode of breaking the ice between new and old students on a campus.' He suggests that students could be educated through seminars, debates and street plays, besides other modes of communication. 'Ragging is not just limited to government colleges but has spread to new private institutions as well,' he adds.

Ragging is such a scourge that both students and their parents are today wary of colleges and hostels. Who can forget the tragic case of Aman Kachroo? Last year, the 19-year-old lad went to study medicine in Himachal Pradesh. He was beaten so mercilessly by his inebriated seniors that he lost his life. Since then, many students have been reported to have committed suicide after being ragged.

To prevent recurrence of such incidents and help students across the nation, the University Grants Commission launched a 24x7 toll free helpline (1800-180-5522) last year. Nearly 300,000 students from various states approached UGC for help but only 500 lodged formal complaints against either the college authorities or the culprits. Most students are apprehensive of the likely repercussions of standing up to this reprehensible practice. Says Agarwal: 'I am in favour of a soft approach. Just implementing laws or levelling charges under various sections of the Anti-Ragging Act will not help. Instead students should be made aware of what can be done to prevent ragging.' 'College authorities should encourage friendship-based activities, where students can learn from each other. Only then will India be a ragging-free nation. We should sensitise parents, teachers and peer groups in both universities and colleges,' adds Agarwal. The good news is that awareness is growing nationwide. The media has taken up the cause and that has helped make people aware of the ugly and fatal consequences of ragging. The Human Resources Development Ministry and various college authorities, too, have strengthened rules to prevent ragging.

There has been an appreciable increase in reporting of ragging cases in recent times, but there is still a long way to go. Ankit Mehrotra, a fresh graduate from a leading engineering college in Gurgaon, says, 'We were not ragged on the campus but while returning home in a college bus. We were forced to perform demeaning acts in front of girls.' Asked whether he ever reported the matter to the college authorities, he says he did not for fear of the consequences. 'I had to complete my term there at any cost,' he says.

The fact that many students still refrain from reporting cases of ragging to the college authorities or their own parents proves that the laws are still not strong enough to inspire confidence. Until iron-clad laws are implemented, the exercise aimed at eradicating ragging will be futile. But on many campuses, some success has been achieved. A professor at Delhi University's political science department, says, 'Because of anti-ragging laws and the active role of the various college authorities, no cases of ragging have been reported from our campus.' He adds: 'We conduct surprise checks in and around classrooms as well as in the hostel premises, this way we make sure that no untoward incident occurs.' Similarly, Christ College, Bangalore, is ragging-free. 'We see to it that no such incident ever happens in our hostel. Parents leave their children here trusting us. It is our responsibility to provide them with a healthy environment where they can study in peace,' says Cicily Cherian, warden of Christ College girls' hostel.

Bengal Engineering College, once a notorious hub of obnoxious forms of ragging as well as student unrest, has shed that reputation to a great extent. The college, located in Shibpur in the outskirts of Kolkata, has witnessed much improvement since Ajay Kumar Roy took over as the vice-chancellor in 2009. 'This isn't just media hype; things have really changed in BE College,' says first year student Soumitra Kar.

In Hyderabad's JNTU, the campus has reported no cases of ragging but the hostel has. Says a B.Tech student T. Mohan Chary: 'About six months ago, at least five students were suspended for ragging. They were handed over to the police. In fact, our principal also made sure that they did not appear for their semester test, leave alone the final exam. Since then, no case of ragging has been reported either on the campus or from the hostel as stringent actions are being taken and we are spreading awareness about ragging through seminars and other significant mediums.'

A fresher, Anushka Siddiqui, is excited about beginning her higher education in Delhi University. She says she does not fear being ragged at all as there are strict rules. Her mother, Ranjana Banerjee, a lecturer at JNU, agrees: 'The authorities are taking serious steps to curb ragging. So I have no apprehensions about sending Anushka to college.'

DU might have got its act right, but not every college or institute in this country can claim to have weeded out ragging for good. Worries continue to cast a shadow on young minds as many loopholes still remain to be plugged.
(Some names changed on request)

A success story

Jyothi Nivas College, Bangalore

The college follows to the T all the rules laid down by the Anti-Ragging Committee. They include:
Cancellation of admission
Suspension from attending class
Withholding/withdrawing scholarship/fee concession and other benefits
Debarring from appearing in any test/examination or other evaluation process, and withholding the results
Debarring from representing the university in the fest, sports or other such events
Suspension/expulsion from the hostel
Rustication from the college for a period of up to 4 semesters
Expulsion from the college and consequent debarring from the admission to any other institution
Fine of Rs.25,000/-
In the case of offences of very serious/grievous nature, referring the case to police, in addition to any other punishment
Collective punishment where the offence is committed collectively by a group or by a class making it difficult or not possible to identify specific persons

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A language that divides

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

A university is a cultural hub. But divisions run deep beneath the apparent bonhomie. Anil Pandey tries to bring out the English versus vernacular division in our high temples of education, and examines its effects on Indian society

Scene 1: The canteen of Delhi School of Economics (also known as D School) in Delhi University's north campus. Equipped with expensive mobile phones and gadgets, the boys and girls are chatting and having fun. A glass of a cold drink in one hand and a cigarette in another, a guy is discussing the latest music album of an American band. The whole canteen is buzzing with activity.

Scene 2: A tea shop adjoining the old office of the Delhi University Students Union gate. Contrary to D School's guys with expensive gadgets, here students are sitting on sidewalks and walls sipping tea. Most of them are not wearing branded clothes. The D School students call them desi.

Scene 3: Canteen of PG men's hostel, Delhi University. Judging by their language, most of the students sitting in this canteen are from South India. The South Indian food served here is delicious.

Scene 4: Momos Point near Batra Cinema at Kamla Nagar, near Delhi University. Here lies a different world. Boys and girls with small brown eyes, and not very tall, mostly wearing low-waist jeans and loose T-shirts crowd this joint. They are the students from the Northeast.

These are scenes from one of the country's most prestigious universities where studies, fashion and glamour go hand in hand. It's a cultural melting pot in the sense that students from across the country come here to study. They bring with them the whiff of their respective cultures and enrich the university scene. Students from different regions and from diverse academic backgrounds mingle with each other, yet keep a distance. The divide ' linguistic and cultural ' is too conspicuous to miss.

Student leader Basant Jha says, 'Delhi University has many student associations based on languages. For instance, the students from UP and Bihar have formed Purvanchal Students Association, those form Northeast have Northeast Students Union and so on. In addition to these, there are Kerala, Gujarati, Manipuri and Naga student unions.'

Such linguistic divisions are found in almost all the big universities in the country. In some states, the division is based on differences between English and the vernacular language. But this division is not merely about the language ' the medium of studies also reflects the economic and social status of a student. English medium students are treated as the privileged ones, and if you believe some of the vernacular students, they get more attention from teachers as well as from the university administration.

A general perception is that those who go to English medium schools are likely to be more sophisticated, urbane and well-mannered than their counterparts who go to the state-run vernacular schools. This perception, obviously, does not go down well with the vernacular students, who feel marginalised and deprived. The secretary-general of the Gorakhpur University Teachers Association, Dr Chandrabhushan Ankur, says, 'There is a class divide in our education system. English in India has been more than just a language. It has been a culture and a class. Although in our university Hindi and Bhojpuri mediums are prominent, but English-medium students get special attention. The underlying assumption is that English-medium students are far more sincere.'

Generally English medium students get more pocket money because they usually come from well-off families. An English medium student does not mind blowing up Rs 500 to Rs 1000 in a day ' the kind of amount that can sustain a student from a weaker financial background for a week. Chennai-based student Virag feels, 'English medium students' lifestyle is very different from that of other students.' After the rise of the service sector in India, it became evident that the mastery of English is necessary to get a high paying job. No wonder then that even in rural areas more and more students are opting for English medium education. 'English is the global language. Not only do students get more books in English, but also greater employment opportunities. That's why many students here regard Telugu as a second class language and prefer English medium,' says T. Mohan Chari, a B.Tech student at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Hyderabad. He is quite right. The biggest challenge for vernacular students is to find text books and study material in their language. 'Hindi and other regional languages lack quality textbooks though the number of vernacular medium students is greater than English-medium students. The university administration should make an effort to get good English books translated into other languages. Delhi University has created a special department for the job, but barely two or three books are translated in a year, which is clearly not enough,' says a DU lecturer.

Vernacular students feel they do not get good marks as the majority of teachers are from the English medium. Says ex-student leader Aditya Jha: 'Vernacular students should get separate classes and should be taught in their own medium. Their exam sheets should be checked by teachers who've done their education in either Hindi or in a regional language.'

However, when it comes to awareness about social and political issues, the vernacular students score over their English medium counterparts. The former are more aware of the burning issues and problems and are more active politically. Rohit Chahal, a former executive councillor of Delhi University Students Union, says, 'The DUSU election is an important affair as the union not only raises sensitive issues but also determines the direction of student politics. But on election day, most of the public school, English medium type in DU disapper. They prefer to watch a movie or a rock concert rather than taking part in student union elections.' Clearly, the linguistic division in our educational institutes is at multiple levels and is somewhere seeping into our society as a whole.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Indian universities and higher education institutes seem to be caught in a time warp teaching things

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As the world moves ahead at a maddening pace, many major Indian universities and higher education institutes seem to be caught in a time warp'teaching things that became irrelevant ages ago

Subhash Kumar, an MCA student at Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, woke up to the bitter reality that the academic degree for which he had sweated out day and night, was not going to be of much help, as soon as he got his first job as a programmer in a software company. The huge disconnect between what is being taught and what is required in the industry made life difficult for him and though he managed to save his job, he got average annual performance review.

He did not know Java, a computer language, because it wasn't included in his curriculum. This despite the fact that three-fourth of programming in the software industry in India is done in Java. 'I fail to understand the logic behind teaching things such as neural network or compiler designing when a minuscule percentage of students work on these domains. On the other hand, programming languages are not taught in the colleges while 95 percent of jobs in the market demand these skills,' says a discomfited Subhash. Tribhuvan Kumar echoes similar sentiments. 'How many computer science teachers in these reputed colleges even know the name of technologies such as Hybernet and SAP?'

Prateek Kumar, a law student at ICFAI law school says, 'We are taught everything from criminal procedure code to business and corporate law. It means there are more than 600 sections that have to be finished in just 44 classes. The teacher is able to explain only 250 to 300 sections.' The students are left to fend for themselves for the rest of the sections. For smaller law colleges in the country, it is very difficult to subscribe to those online sites which provide latest live case studies and judgments. 'Law is an evolving field and many new subjects are coming up such as Cyber Law, Environmental Law etc. There are very few teachers who can properly teach these subjects. Very few law colleges in the country have mock courts to teach proper way of pleading in a case,' adds Kumar.

The problem in India is at many levels. The syllabi are decided by the affiliating colleges and the curricula are prescribed by the universities. 'This leaves little room for quality control because syllabi are not revised frequently,' says Fr. Ambrose Pinto, Principal, St. Joseph's College, Mangalore.

Rajkumar Falwaria, a political science assistant professor at DAV college, Delhi University, says, 'The Delhi University is trying to revise the syllabi of many subjects. But there are hardly any books for the revised or newly introduced curriculum such as globalisation. I teach 'Reading Gandhi' for which there is no proper book in the market except for some cheap examination oriented guides.'

The college education scenario in the developed countries such as the USA is altogether different. Jesse Marks, a student at Yale University, sheds some light on the system while speaking to TSI, 'The curriculum is updated every semester (our classes are taught in spring and fall semesters)... and must be approved by the directors of each faculty. As for the content, many courses reflect current events and trends, whether it is a political science course on terrorism and counter-terrorism or a foreign correspondence course on the Iraq war reporting. Of course, others, especially in mathematics and history, may be taught in the same manner for decades.' Now, compare this situation to the one back home. The physics (Hons) syllabus of Magadh University in Bihar has not been revised since 1962, the year the university was established! Students here are still taught diode and triode in electronics. Rajesh Ranjan Prasad (name changed on request), head of the department of Physics at a college affiliated to Magadh University says, 'The world has moved to microprocessors that can do a billion calculations per second and we are teaching diode and triode. Frankly speaking, if the curriculum is revised and I am asked to teach those things, I will fumble in all likelihood.'

Except for commerce and a few other subjects, the curricula of most of the subjects are outdated, outmoded and obsolete. But the problem is not confined to the obsolete curricula. Many colleges have revised their course structure and curricula but in those cases the teachers are not able to handle the newly introduced syllabi. For example, Patna based National Institute of Technology has completely updated and revised its engineering syllabus two years ago, but this has created problems for both students and teachers. Rajeev Kumar, a fresh electrical engineering graduate from the institute says, 'Electrical power system problems are completely based on Matlad software and hardly any teacher is equipped to handle this. The college should have given them a proper training before they introduced such advanced things.' Kumar is currently employed at Power Grid Corporation of India.

The asphyxiating dominance of universities over the affiliated colleges is the primary reason why colleges are not able to revise the curricula as per the needs of the changing times. Political interference in universities has created an unhealthy atmosphere and this has added to the problem of the plummeting standards of education in the colleges.

Suvro Kamal Dutta, a political and economic analyst, has had opportunity to study both in India and at Cambridge University. He shares his experience with TSI, 'The big gap between India and other western countries in terms of educational standards seems very difficult to bridge. For example, see the history syllabi. We are not ready to move beyond Ashoka, Babar, Akbar and the independence movement. Even the students doing post graduation do not know about the technology of carbon dating and the use of remote sensing technology in the analysis of pre-historic locations.' He further adds, 'It is good to teach about our past but the education should be backed up with reality. It is more important to know what is happening at WTO and the impact of privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation on the Indian economy than what an emperor did a few hundred or a few thousand years ago.' The compartmentalisation of subject matter with no linkages in between and very few curricula linking the theory with application in the real world around render students wanting for motivation. Graduates should require minimal training before becoming productive, but typically there is an immense and inevitable need to retrain when on field ' waste of resources and time. 'The undergraduate syllabi are almost irrelevant, de-linked from the rest of the world. Educators and those responsible are usually apathetic and indifferent. Lack of refresher courses for teachers and infrequent syllabi revision leaves no room for innovation and creativity due to the smothering system of examinations conducted by universities,' says Archana Sharma, an eminent physicist and staff-scientist at CERN.

Some of the topics taught in Indian economics in the old syllabus as well as the new are totally irrelevant. There could have been interesting debates on topics like globalisation and liberalisation. It could have contained the economic backlash of the recent Iraq war. But sadly, our undergraduate curriculum has no scope to deal with contemporary topics.

Similarly, in journalism what is the use of teaching lithography when it is a junk technology? At most of the government universities, Hindi teachers have been assigned to teach journalism. Brijesh Mishra, a senior-producer in a leading business TV channel says, 'Most of the teachers who are teaching journalism have not seen newsroom in their life. They teach obsolete things which do not help students when they join industry. Instead, they should have taught how to write a good newspaper or television report, how to prepare rundown for the bulletin and most important how to cope with the immense pressure in a TV newsroom when news are bombarding you every second.'

The disconnect between the industry and academia is evident with report of Confederation of Indian Industry which clearly says that only 39.5 per cent of graduates in India are employable and that if India wants to sustain its pace of development, nothing less than a radical surgery will help.

The quality of teachers is another problem plaguing our universities and colleges. Vishesh Ranjan (name changed on request) says that the majority of the faculty in the MCA department at MANIT, Bhopal' where he is studying' is run by ad hoc teachers who are totally incompetent. 'They teach wrong concepts and even bring their own notes. The MCA course demands good computer lab. However, only 30 out of 60 computers work. There is no student feedback system. We are in a way forced to be taught by such teachers,' says a disappointed Ranjan.

India is a country gifted with large talent base and time has really come to change the outmoded education system in order to tap the creative energy of Indian students. This can only be done by revamping the curricula, and incorporating students' feedback so as to be informed of their needs and demands.


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