UGC visit: Why Banaras Hindu University is in such a mess

The UGC ranking team is at large in the Banaras Hindu University campus. Where are they? No one knows for sure. Some say they arrived weeks ago, and have already begun their rounds, secretly sizing things up!

At the faculty of arts and the faculty of performing arts, both of which I happen to visit often, frantic drives of cleaning are underway. Years' worth of dried leaves are being cleared from the gardens, layers of cobwebs from corners and blankets of dust from balconies. Computers that conked off months ago are finally being replaced. Windows that didn't open all year are finally letting in some light and air.

This is how, it seems, it happens: The dean orders the heads of department who order the faculty members who order the students. There are long, informal meetings with lots of irrelevant inputs. There is scurrying and avoiding and nabbing. Everyone complains about everyone else and claims to be more exploited and more exhausted than everyone else. Everyone agrees that everyone is very busy dusting and wielding brooms, or at least watching over others doing all that, and so classes are collectively forgotten about, and, at the faculty of performing arts, the "Purvacharya" annual concert, which features performances by faculty and students, is "postponed".

Here are some of the comments I've heard these past couple of weeks:

"You won't believe it, but this morning I had to reach the faculty at nine am! I'm utterly exhausted, I can't think of moving a muscle now."

"We even have to go on Saturday!"

"I spent all afternoon dusting the carpets and sweeping the floor. Where are those chaprasis?"

"Look, I'm not complaining about anyone, but why should the dean get to sit in his chair?"

"I simply went and signed my name and ran away… Am I anyone's naukar?"

If only everyone was happy about the fact that the basic cleaning and organisation that should have been happening all year long is finally happening now. If only all this work had been happening all along. If only this preparation had created a sense of shame and had resulted in a discussion of the gaping shortcomings and the decision to amend. The kinds of attitudes demonstrated by the students, staff and administration, perhaps seems normal and rather harmless to us Indians. But it is not harmless, nor should it be taken for granted. The truth is that the UGC team's visit to the BHU has brought out the very worst in the students, staff and administration - their petty-mindedness, dishonesty, elitism and laziness - and in the systems that are in place, which seem to fuel all of the above qualities. What the UGC team should publish are official reports and rankings of "Pre-UGC-Visit Behaviour" of colleges and universities!