Renaming legacy

Renaming legacy

Dyal Singh College should retain its name

A low-hanging fruit for any regime is renaming public institutions to advertise its ideological priorities. The rechristening of Delhi University’s Dyal Singh Evening College to Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya falls in this category. Dyal Singh Trust, established in Lahore, founded and ran a college and library in that city. Both retain the name of their founder. After Partition, the trust set up Dyal Singh Library and Dyal Singh College in Delhi. Dyal Singh Evening College was founded in 1958, and Dyal Singh College a year later. Both share the campus and the governing body, headed by a BJP member, but have separate staff members, including the principals.

Delhi University has managed both colleges since 1978 and a few months ago it decided to convert the evening college into a morning one, prompting the name change, and raising other issues. It is easily conceded that both the colleges have not been beacons of academic excellence and are facing many infrastructural problems as they seek to accommodate students on a relatively small campus in the Capital. The governing body would be well advised to concentrate more on providing such facilities and improving the lot of the students and staff members of one of Delhi’s older colleges. Educational institutions need academic recapitalisation, and it is only natural to expect the governing body to take appropriate measures, rather than to embark on a frivolous renaming venture.

India has a long history of philanthropists donating for worthy causes, including educational institutions and hospitals. They have often been named after the benefactors. This is only right and proper. Changing such legacies smacks of pettiness. Besides colleges in Lahore and Delhi, there are Dyal Singh educational institutions in other cities, and they too bear the name of their founder proudly. A man who donated his fortune to establishing trusts focused on public good, Dyal Singh Majithia deserves wider recognition rather than obliteration. His name should continue to adorn the institution that was founded by his trust.

Courtesy : The Tribune Opinion