‘Not Compulsory For All Members’: DU College Principal On Staff Being Asked To Sign Up For Course On Bhagavad Gita

Ramanujan College’s principal SP Aggarwal has said that the course on Bhagavad Gita was an appeal to the teaching community and not compulsory for all staff members.

Ramanujan College Principal Says Course On Bhagavad Gita Not Compulsory For All Staff Members (Representational Image)

Amidst the ongoing controversy around staff members of Delhi University’s Ramanujan College being asked to sign up for the Bhagavad Gita course, college principal SP Aggarwal has said that the course was not compulsory for all staff members and it was just an appeal to the teaching community. Speaking to news agency ANI on the issue, he also underlined the relevance of the contents of the Bhagavad Gita in the modern education system. 

We launched a learning centre in our college on the college foundation day...We thought it would be best to have the first course in the centre of Bhagavad Gita to sensitise the staff and students to the course, its contents and its relevance in the modern education system...Training and sensitization of teachers to the Indian knowledge system, applicable in the modern education system was an important theme of the course...This course was not compulsory for every staff member. It was just an appeal to the teaching community..." SP Aggarwal said. 

Notably, the Ramanujan college administration introduced a 20-day certificate course on Bhagavad Gita and asked its teaching and non-teaching staff to mandatorily register and attend the refresher course. The move was quick in drawing flak from teachers, fuelling a fresh row. The teachers' outfit Democratic Teachers' Front,  a left-leaning teachers outfit, has demanded the withdrawal of the mandatory registration and attendance for teachers for the Bhagavad Gita refresher course. The teachers body termed the move as ‘autocratic,’ and said that the college staff are being coerced into registering for the Bhagavad Gita course. 

"Ramanujan principal SP Agarwal has abused the powers vested in him to dictate to all teachers and non-teaching staff to compulsorily register for and attend a refresher/certificate course on Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Illegally coercing teachers and non-teaching staff to remain engaged till 6.30 pm beyond official duties and the added burden of conducting the ongoing semester examinations of students is unacceptable," news agency PTI quoted the DTF as saying.