: Unhappy with the changes being brought to the constitution of St. Stephen's College, the alumni of the institution has decided to approach the President of India, the visitor of Delhi University regarding the issue.
The alumni members including ex-cricketer and Member of Parliament Kirti Azad, Delhi Congress Spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee, former Lok Sabha MP Sandeep Dikshit, MP Lok Sabha Bhartendra Singh and others held a briefing on Friday in which they opposed principal Valson Thampu's move to amend the 102-year-old Constitution of the institute.
Former test cricketer and an alumnus Kirti Azad described the present situation at the institution as “disgusting” and “disheartening” and said the issue will be raised in Parliament by the MPs who are alumni of the college.
“There are at least 17 alumni of St. Stephen's who sit in the Parliament. The issues including the non-democratic functioning of the college administration and proposed changes in the constitution will be raised in Parliament on Monday. We will also take up the issue with the HRD Minister Smriti Irani,” Mr. Azad said.
Mr. Thampu, who is retiring in February next year, had come up with a draft amendment in which he had proposed that the principal be empowered to take disciplinary action against students or staff irrespective of the Governing Body's opinion.
He also called for giving a major say to the Church of North India (CNI) in the functioning of the college, handing over the powers to appoint faculty and admissions to its Supreme Council (SC) and recasting the GB.
The move was out-rightly rejected by the staff association of the college. College teacher and DUTA president Nandita Narayan who was also present at the briefing said: “The amendments in the college Constitution were such as they would transfer all the powers concerning the assets, academic and administrative, to the Society that doesn't have teacher representatives.”
“Even if you look at the powers of the institution as a minority institution, the principal can only make changes to the existing rules, not bring in a completely new constitution. Also, you would need atleast two thirds majority in the GB to take a decision, which he did not,” she added.
Former test cricketer, alumnus Kirti Azad called the situation at the college “disgusting”
