The University Grants Commission (UGC) has laid down safeguards for campus security but they seem to be as stifling as prison walls. Barbed wires, high walls, surveillance cameras and police patrol have been recommended to restrict students’ movements. The UGC instructions are said to be in the best interests of students. Strangely, journalism courses have been specially insulated from elements which are supposed to promote terrorism. Students’ attendance will be checked keeping an eye on a student’s movement and whereabouts. The guidelines have naturally aroused the indignation of students and teachers. They feel more unsafe than safe. What is apparent is that the UGC is out to subvert the autonomy of academic institutions.
However, the UGC is the only body taking such an authoritarian attitude. The West Bengal Governor has asked the State government to draw up a code of conduct for its universities to tackle violence on their campuses. The UGC primarily doles out funds to the universities but these grants are not always easy to secure. The body is therefore incapable of discharging its primary responsibility. The safety of campuses can therefore be only a matter of secondary importance to it. There is accordingly a case for abolition of the body. The West Bengal Governor’s instructions to the state government also clash with the treasured values of autonomous running of academic institutions. These institutions should be free from an atmosphere of strict regulation. But that is exactly what is happening and it militates against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of minimum government and maximum governance.
