For the past fortnight, a determined group of students has been picketing the University Grants Commission headquarters in Delhi. Their grouse: the higher education body’s decision on October 7 to scrap fellowships for scholars pursuing PhDs and MPhils at central universities across the country. Backed by academics and politicians, the #OccupyUGC agitation is now spreading its footprint across the country.
On Monday, students in Kolkata marched to the UGC office on the Jadavpur University campus. They organised a peaceful sit-in protest in solidarity with their counterparts in Delhi. However, the police stopped the protesting students from entering the campus. There were claims that the police lathi-charged the students around 6pm. Some students also claimed that their cameras and phones were damaged in the process.
Even as students from Calcutta University, Jadavpur University and Visva Bharati University participated in the agitation on the ground, there were voices of support online from students elsewhere in the state.
North and south
In Uttar Pradesh, students from Allahabad University, Banaras Hindu University, and others have also held demonstrations against the UGC. There have also been statements of support from Rohtak’s Maharshi Dayanand University, Aligarh Muslim University, and Punjab University. In Hyderabad, students from the English and Foreign Languages University as well as the Hyderabad University have staged protests over the past week demanding that the UGC circular be withdrawn.
The protests were initially prompted by the UGC's decision to scrap non-NET fellowship stipends of Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 each for at least 35,000 students. Faced with opposition from students, the UGC then decided to form a committee to examine the future of these fellowships, while continuing existing fellowships for the time being.
But this move did not sit well with the students' organisations, which want the stipends increased and linked to inflation indexes. They also want students from state universities to be eligible for these stipends. In addition, the students are also demanding that the UGC not retain any clauses such as “merit” or “economic criteria” that could limit the reach of these fellowships.
It isn't surprising that the protests have found such strong resonance in Kolkata. Around this time last year, students across the country united in solidarity with Jadavpur University students, who were protesting against the vice-chancellor. The #OccupyUGC protests have now served to strengthen this unity.
The police action in Kolkata on Monday prompted students in Delhi to burn an effigy of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee outside the UGC headquarters in Dehi on Tuesday evening.
Professor Anand Kumar, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav – founding members of political group Swaraj Abhiyan – visited at the site and condemned the government for undermining educational funding. “The British Raj didn’t let Indians study for 200 years,” Professor Kumar told the students. "Now, even after independence, the government is denying students the right to education."
And in Pune
The #OccupyUGC protesters have also found allies in students of the Film and Television Institute of India, who were on strike for more than four months until last week over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institution.
“The events that have transpired, right from the scrapping of the fellowship programme to the police brutality against the students protesting the decision, has stunned and disturbed the students of FTII,” the film students said in a statement. "The systematic assault on the education system by the incumbent government has rattled us."
The UGC protests have also found favour with students in South Africa fighting a similar cause. The #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa are aimed at increased public spending on education and a reduction in fee hikes in some of the country’s major colleges.
Saarah Jacobs, a student from University of Western Cape wrote on the Facebook event page of the UGC protests: “From South African students, to you. We fully support you! Viva! We shall continue to grow, united, we will stand tall.”
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On Monday, students in Kolkata marched to the UGC office on the Jadavpur University campus. They organised a peaceful sit-in protest in solidarity with their counterparts in Delhi. However, the police stopped the protesting students from entering the campus. There were claims that the police lathi-charged the students around 6pm. Some students also claimed that their cameras and phones were damaged in the process.
Even as students from Calcutta University, Jadavpur University and Visva Bharati University participated in the agitation on the ground, there were voices of support online from students elsewhere in the state.
North and south
In Uttar Pradesh, students from Allahabad University, Banaras Hindu University, and others have also held demonstrations against the UGC. There have also been statements of support from Rohtak’s Maharshi Dayanand University, Aligarh Muslim University, and Punjab University. In Hyderabad, students from the English and Foreign Languages University as well as the Hyderabad University have staged protests over the past week demanding that the UGC circular be withdrawn.
The protests were initially prompted by the UGC's decision to scrap non-NET fellowship stipends of Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 each for at least 35,000 students. Faced with opposition from students, the UGC then decided to form a committee to examine the future of these fellowships, while continuing existing fellowships for the time being.
But this move did not sit well with the students' organisations, which want the stipends increased and linked to inflation indexes. They also want students from state universities to be eligible for these stipends. In addition, the students are also demanding that the UGC not retain any clauses such as “merit” or “economic criteria” that could limit the reach of these fellowships.
It isn't surprising that the protests have found such strong resonance in Kolkata. Around this time last year, students across the country united in solidarity with Jadavpur University students, who were protesting against the vice-chancellor. The #OccupyUGC protests have now served to strengthen this unity.
The police action in Kolkata on Monday prompted students in Delhi to burn an effigy of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee outside the UGC headquarters in Dehi on Tuesday evening.
Professor Anand Kumar, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav – founding members of political group Swaraj Abhiyan – visited at the site and condemned the government for undermining educational funding. “The British Raj didn’t let Indians study for 200 years,” Professor Kumar told the students. "Now, even after independence, the government is denying students the right to education."
And in Pune
The #OccupyUGC protesters have also found allies in students of the Film and Television Institute of India, who were on strike for more than four months until last week over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institution.
“The events that have transpired, right from the scrapping of the fellowship programme to the police brutality against the students protesting the decision, has stunned and disturbed the students of FTII,” the film students said in a statement. "The systematic assault on the education system by the incumbent government has rattled us."
The UGC protests have also found favour with students in South Africa fighting a similar cause. The #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa are aimed at increased public spending on education and a reduction in fee hikes in some of the country’s major colleges.
Saarah Jacobs, a student from University of Western Cape wrote on the Facebook event page of the UGC protests: “From South African students, to you. We fully support you! Viva! We shall continue to grow, united, we will stand tall.”