Be it the top 10 colleges of Delhi University or ones that few have heard of or even a college located on the outskirts of the city — none were excluded from the surprise goodwill visit of Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh on the first day of the new academic session till last year.
The visit usually would take place when teachers were loitering around in the staff room or the Principal had decided to take a smoking break.
“We sort of knew he wouldn’t come this year, with all the recent drama and controversy, and we are grateful for that. I was taking a smoking break during his visit last year, when a teacher came running to tell me that the V-C and his entourage was visiting classrooms that didn’t have a teacher. I put out my cigarette so quickly that I almost burnt my finger,” said a Principal.
He added that luckily his remaining classrooms were functioning quite well and the university administration was quite happy with the visit.
The first time such a “surprise goodwill visit” took place was in 2012.
“Surprise goodwill visit” Teachers of a college on the outer reaches of the Capital were slowly gearing up to face the new students, when suddenly they found Prof. Singh along with the entire top university administration in their midst.
As it turned out, it was discovered that timetables were not ready, the classrooms dirty, and half the teachers did not seem to realise that the summer break was actually over. Even the staffroom clock was not working.
Consequent visits The surprise check was appreciated by most in the university. But then many things changed.
In consequent visits, the V-C would usually sweep in a car flanked by bodyguards in black, followed by the cars of the Pro-V-C, another one of the Registrar and the remaining administration usually following them in a bus.
Once inside, the V-C would hop from class to class and speak to the students, while the administration would go to some other classes and pull up teachers in front of the students. The Principals were also often humiliated in a similar manner.
By 2013 opening day, colleges were prepared for the “surprise visit”.
One college even had tea and sandwiches waiting, another had a prepared agenda of classrooms the V-C could “surprise” and still another had an auditorium filled with well-behaved students, who clapped and cheered at the right moments.
This year, following the battle over the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), few were “surprised” that the university administration did not turn up for the surprise checks. The administration has been lying low since the FYUP was rolled back.
