ABVP stir against Christ University promotion policy in Ghaziabad enters Day 2

On the second day of protests, approximately 20 individuals, comprising members from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and students, congregated outside Christ University's Mariam Nagar campus in Ghaziabad to voice their concerns over the university's promotion policy. This demonstration commenced the previous day when 13 students were denied progression to their fourth year due to accumulated backlogs from earlier semesters.

Despite Christ University's officials stating that a memorandum submitted by the affected students would be presented to their Examination Committee on the following Monday for review, the university had concurrently lodged a complaint against ABVP members to the Ghaziabad Police. The police had acknowledged receiving the complaint.

During the protest on Saturday, participants chanted slogans and burned an effigy outside the campus, all while being under the watchful eyes of the police. The students and ABVP members, who claimed to represent the families of the affected students, were eventually dispersed by law enforcement, without any violent incidents or injuries occurring.

The central issue in contention is the university's promotion policy for the School of Law's BA LLB program at the Ghaziabad campus. Around 13 students in this program are facing delays in promotion as they have not cleared backlogs from their first or second years. Notably, the university's promotion policy for other courses has been revised in line with the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP), but the School of Law's policy remains unchanged, as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Bar Council of India regulations.

According to the university's policy, students must successfully complete all courses from the first year to be promoted to the third year, and all courses from the first and second years to be promoted to the fourth year. For advancement to subsequent semesters, students are required to have cleared at least 50% of the total number of courses, including practical ones, from the cumulative semesters of previous academic years, unless specified under programme regulations.

In response to the controversy, Prof Akhilesh Tiwari, in-charge of administration at the Ghaziabad campus, explained that the issue impacted students across multiple campuses, making it impossible to resolve the matter at an individual campus level. He emphasized that the university had around 13 affected students in Ghaziabad, with higher numbers at other campuses, such as Bangalore and two others. Tiwari stressed that uniform actions were necessary across all campuses.

Students were given time to address their backlogs, and they had submitted undertaking letters acknowledging the promotion policy. However, Tanishq Shishodia, spokesperson for ABVP in Ghaziabad, accused the university of detaining students for attendance shortages and denying them the opportunity to appear for examinations. Shishodia also pointed out that some students were affected by the policy even with minimal backlogs.

One affected student, Anishka Joshi, contended that the policy had extended her five-year law program by an additional year. Joshi alleged that university officials had responded to her father's concerns with dismissive remarks related to suicide. Another student from the 2023 batch, present at the protest, disclosed that medical reasons had prevented them from taking three examinations in the third and fourth semesters, and they were denied a scribe for one of those exams.

This student also challenged the application of the policy to law students, arguing that legal education operates outside the NEP framework.

Satyam Sahu, a BBA LLB (Honours) student from the 2022 batch, shared his struggle with medical issues and attendance shortfalls. Sahu had an attendance rate of 72.77%, falling short of the university's 73% threshold, leading to his detention. He had to sit for 13 exams across the sixth, seventh, and eighth semesters within a 24-day period, citing insufficient preparation time, especially for core law subjects.