More seats in courses

K.K. Aggarwal, vice-chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, spoke to Swaha Sahoo on the university’s future plans regarding colleges, courses and quota, reports Swaha Sahoo.

K.K. Aggarwal, vice-chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, spoke to Swaha Sahoo on the university’s future plans regarding colleges, courses and quota. Excerpts:

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What are the areas you are looking forward to in future?

We are excited about our new campus in Dwarka. Some of the buildings are already there and the work should be complete by March 2009. Hopefully, the August 2009 session should see us in the new campus. The second campus is coming up at Surajmal Vihar and should be ready by 2010. Once the new campuses are ready, we will use the old campus to accommodate the Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology.

What new courses are you launching this session?

Since our BBA programme is very popular, we have added 500 seats this year. I have also permitted evening shifts in courses like BBA, BCA and MBA. Another popular course is B Tech. We have given affiliation to a new institute in Gurgaon to begin B Tech for 180 students. We have added a college of nursing in St Stephen’s Hospital. There is also a proposal to add two more at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital. Although the admissions to these colleges have been delayed, they have been approved for this year. Admissions will take place on an all-India level.

Are conventional programmes like BA, BSc, and BCom losing to professional courses?

I believe we should look at a synthesis of the regular undergraduate programmes and professional courses. All focus on professional courses is not healthy. At the same time, we have to make BA semi-professional so that when a student is equipped to make a living. For example, till some years back, DU students went to NIIT and other such institutes for add on learning. Why not provide them with both in the same campus! I am also worried about the decline in science education in the country.

How do you react to the fact that many institutes under GGSIPU are not up to the mark in term of quality?

I won’t say that any of our institutes are declining qualitatively. Rather every college is improving. I can say that every college has not met our standards. But if you compare eight-year-old colleges, then ours are doing far better. About 80-85 per cent are quiet okay.

Are you prepared to implement the OBC quota, starting with five per cent this year?

We have three types of institutes under us. The quota does not apply to private institutes. In the institutes under the Central government, the OBC quota is already being implemented. And as far as colleges falling under the Delhi government are concerned, we are yet to receive any directive from the government. However, even if we receive the directives a week before we hold the second counselling, we will be able to implement the quota.