In April 2017, the bestselling author, Chetan Bhagat announced on Twitter that his book has been included in the DU curriculum.
Chetan Bhagat’s novels are indeed one of the best sellers in the market, but some colleges of Delhi University seems to be not in a good mood to welcome his novels in the literature curriculum.
The proposal by Delhi University’s English department to include author Chetan Bhagat’s novels in the literature curriculum and introduce a course on writing Facebook posts has hit a roadblock following opposition from teachers of various colleges.
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Proposal still on hold:
The university has decided to put the proposal on hold and has formed a review committee to recommend if it can be taken up in the next academic session.
“It was felt that there is arbitrariness in framing and modification of the syllabus. It has also come to light that the department has been in practice of favouring some authors and publishers, even by going out of the way of normal practice and justification, it seems through the reactions which came after the proposal that all of a sudden one big change has been made in the undergraduate English course by introducing Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone in the popular fiction paper of the syllabus,” read the minutes of meeting in which the panel was formed.
Controversy over Bhagat’s work:
In April 2017, the bestselling author, Chetan Bhagat announced on Twitter that his book has been included in the DU curriculum.
Earlier, DU had confirmed that the department was considering the proposal made by the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) committee and that Bhagat’s book would be taught along with popular fiction novels. CBCS committee had also proposed the model of making Facebook post writing to be part of a course on “academic writing”.
Both the moves had drawn sharp reactions from literature enthusiasts and various English teachers who argued whether they really counted as literature.
“The committee has been formed to look into procedural lapses in syllabi design and modification, who were the members of the CBCS committee, was there sufficient representation from colleges, were all the members informed about the modification and their approval sought,” a senior official of the English department told PTI.
However, the university “has not set a deadline for the review committee but modification, if any, is not happening in this academic session for sure,” he said.
[“Source-CNBC”]