AAP and Kejriwal's claims: Messiah of Dalits or just a pretence?
Delhi Government and AUD: Funds are there, yet why are the scholars hungry?
AAP's promise on education vs ground reality
Arvind Kejriwal and AAP often emphasise Dr Ambedkar's ideas and the importance of education, but the problems of PhD scholars at Dr B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) have been ignored. According to Justice Markandey Katju, delays in scholarship distribution and administrative negligence at AUD are causing scholars financial hardship. Despite the Delhi government's funds, scholars are not receiving stipends on time. Is this an example of the double politics of Kejriwal and AAP? Know Justice Katju's views.
The hypocrisy of Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP
By Justice Markandey Katju
Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP claim to represent inter alia the Dalits, whose votes they will seek in the coming Delhi Assembly elections, But how shabbily they treat the memory of Baba saheb Dr BR Ambedkar and the University founded in Delhi in his name can be seen from the example given below.
While the AAP celebrates the legacy of Dr Ambedkar and the transformative power of education which he espoused, it has turned Nelson's eye to the issues faced by the state government’s prestigious Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) where Ph.D scholars are struggling for something as basic as regular disbursal of stipends – a necessity for survival for scholars.
Dr Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) offers two stipends for PhD scholars: the ₹16,000 non-NET fellowship for all entrants and the AUD Merit Research Fellowship Scheme (AUDMRFS), equivalent to UGC-JRF, for top-ranked candidates. While AUDMRFS was introduced in 2020–21, its implementation was delayed until 2022, and the current batch of scholars is yet to benefit, with no notifications issued for the 2024 session.
Despite fulfilling coursework obligations, PhD scholars have faced severe delays in non-NET stipend disbursals. Payments for August to October 2024 were received after persistent follow-ups and emails to the administration, but stipends for May to July and post-November still remain unpaid to a substantial number of PhD scholars, which has driven them to the verge of starvation.
Living in Delhi, with high rents and no hostel facilities, exacerbates the Ph. D scholars’ struggles, forcing many to compromise their research by taking up part-time work. Although AUD receives funding from both the Delhi State Government and the UGC, these irregularities highlight significant administrative lapses.
Grand announcements of schemes by the AAP have no meaning when implementation fails to match promises. In fact, this reveals the sheer hypocrisy of AAP and it's leader Kejriwal.
The Delhi AAP. government has no shortage of funds but keeps the Ph.D scholars starving, and on the brink of committing suicide.
Therefore before announcing big schemes of making education free, AAP should look at home at their University AUD and make sure the already existent schemes are really implemented and are not just meaningless promises on paper.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
