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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Funds fear on Dalit research -Pheroze L Vincent and Basant Mohanty

-The Telegraph

New Delhi: The government has decided to stop funding research centres on social discrimination at several universities, prompting accusations of shielding the "Brahminical social order".

"It's ironic that these centres, which research Dalits, B.R. Ambedkar's philosophy, social exclusion and inclusive policies like reservation, are being closed down when the University Grants Commission (the higher education regulator) is funding courses on Vedic studies," said N. Sukumar, Ambedkar scholar and teacher of political science in Delhi University.

These "centres for study of social exclusion and inclusive policy" had been envisaged under the 11th five-year plan (2007-12) and subsequently started at 35 central and state government universities. The decision to fund them is usually renewed from plan period to plan period.

Now, prodded by the government, the regulator has written to some of these universities that it would stop funding these centres once the 12th plan ends on March 31 this year.

"I am directed to inform you that UGC will not provide financial support to the centre after the end of XIIth Plan as per the order received from MHRD (ministry of human resource development)," says the order, issued by University Grants Commission undersecretary Sushma Rathore.

The Telegraph has seen a copy of the order, dated March 6, that Jawaharlal Nehru University received on Monday.

Ministry and commission officials said the letter had gone to many of these universities that have these centres and have not upgraded them to departments, which are permanent establishments that receive uninterrupted non-plan funds from the regulator.

Apart from JNU, it could not be independently confirmed from the other universities that have these centres that they had received the letter.

"Further, the UGC will not be liable to the scheme of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy after the completion of XIIth Plan in any matter of functioning of the Centre; No communication whatsoever will be entertained or solicited by the UGC," the letter says.

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