Nagpur: An assistant professor at a pharmacy college affiliated to Nagpur University (NU) submitted his resignation to the principal after being asked to adopt a village and hold a gram sabha on Independence Day under the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (HRD) Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).
The campaign is among several extra-curricular activities, like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Make India Proud With Your Skills etc, being promoted by the Modi government to inculcate a sense of community service among youths. Under UBA, the HRD ministry has been seeking volunteers to work for rural development and help identity problems of social, management and technical issues.
However, colleges claim the schemes are being indirectly made compulsory through All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), which refuses extension of approval (EOA) to colleges until such activities are carried out by students.
Several colleges from the region have registered for UBA, which is being coordinated by Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D). The pharmacy college too had enrolled for the UBA initiatives, assuming the activities won’t strain academics.
To its surprise, they were asked to adopt five villages, just like several other colleges registered for UBA. Recently, UBA asked them to hold gram sabhas, inviting village sarpanches, and deliberate over problems facing them to mark Independence Day celebrations.
The college principal said the teacher, who was appointed UBA coordinator, told him that it was not possible for them to deliver speeches, gather crowds, and raise rural issues. “We dropped the plan of gram sabha, and would now work on repairing potholes in the adopted villages. We could volunteer only for two villages,” the principal said.
The principal said the assistant professor’s resignation was rejected, and he was asked to carry out the alternative activity of filling potholes with students.
Another principal said they too had registered for UBA given AICTE’s insistence at the time of EOA, but couldn’t adopt five villages. “Academics are hampered if students of professional courses are engaged in such activities. Such programmes must be exclusive for social work students, as they will benefit from them, not those enrolled for technical courses,” he said.
An engineering college principal said they strictly adhere to MHRD and AICTE guidelines on extra-curricular activities and document them too.
A teacher from humanities department said generally professional colleges club such activities with National Service Scheme (NSS). “It serves dual purpose of earning marks for students and helping colleges fulfil extra-curricular quota,” the teacher said.
