The University of Delhi is likely to open two new colleges soon. This will be decided in the academic council meeting which is to be held on Tuesday where a resolution to this effect is likely to be passed.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supported academic council members — Asha Rani and Sunil Kumar will raise the demand for the opening of colleges in the name of Mata Savitribai Phule and Jannayak Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav during the Zero Hour.

Both these members of the DU academic council will also raise questions as to why the new education policy is being implemented without discussing it with teachers. Both the AAP leaders say that before the implementation of the four-year curriculum in the varsity, workshops, seminars and opinions of college teachers should have been taken. There were no views taken from the students either.

The Delhi Teachers’ Association (DTA) says that colleges in the name of India’s first female teacher, social worker and freedom fighter, Mata Savitribai Phule in Delhi Dehat’s Fatehpur Beri and Delhi’s first Chief Minister Jannayak Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav in Delhi Dehat’s Najafgarh (Roshanpura) must be opened.

DTA President Hansraj Suman said, at present, there is no college or educational institution in the name of any backward caste woman in DU. If a college is opened in the name of Mata Savitribai Phule it will send a positive message to the whole country. With the opening of a college for girls in Delhi Dehat, rural girls will be encouraged to get an education and they will be able to stand on their own feet by becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar’ or ‘self-reliant’.

According to the DTA, Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav was a popular leader of Delhi, who contributed significantly to India’s freedom struggle. He was not only the voice of rural Delhi but also of Dalits and other backward castes. Under his leadership, rural areas in Delhi made rapid progress. By opening a co-educational college in his name, the promotion of education will be spread among the students in rural areas.

The DU Registrar had recommended a name to open a new college for women in the varsity notification issued on March 12, 2020, following which a proposal was sent to open the college in the name of Savitribai Phule.