New Delhi: Lakshmibai College principal Pratyush Vatsala’s love for cows and cow dung is not new. In 2015, just a few months after she joined the Delhi University college, she established a “Gokul Area” on campus—a space featuring a small pond with a mud floor and even two cows, reportedly looked after under her supervision.
Recently, Vatsala brought her devotion to cows into the classroom, coating its walls with cow dung when classes weren’t in session. The act, captured on video, drew widespread condemnation—as well as some applause for promoting “traditional, eco-friendly practices.” A few days later, Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president Ronak Khatri smeared cow dung on the walls of her office in protest, arguing that such experiments ‘to keep the room cool’ should have been conducted at her home.
“Since the day principal ma’am joined the college, she has treated it like her personal property. She makes decisions and initiates actions without any faculty consultation, official meetings, or prior notice. And anyone who dares to raise a voice against her faces repercussions,” said a faculty member of Lakshmibai College, who has been teaching there for the past 18 years.
Vatsala did not respond to ThePrint’s calls and messages.
Appointed principal in 2015, Vatsala previously served as the vice-principal of DBS PG College in Dehradun for 15 years. She often participates in college programmes, cleanliness drives, and other co-curricular activities, and also organises havans on campus, which she shares on social media.
According to her colleagues and students, Vatsala has always been vocal about environmental issues—and has often faced criticism because of it. In February 2023, she posted on X, encouraging people to share a photo with an animal or nature on Valentine’s Day.
Human rights to basic rights
Vatsala, who hails from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, holds a PhD in English Literature. She has been published in various national and international journals and has edited or contributed to several books, including an e-book published by Interdisciplinary Press, Oxford. Her areas of interest span Indian poetics, educational administration, human rights, and value development in youth.
Her authored works include Mahila Hinsa Ka Ant: Kal, Aaj Aur Kal (Mumkin Hai!), Jane Anjane (a Hindi poetry collection), Human Rights & Dalit Narrative, Human Rights Education: Issues and Challenges, Equality and Social Justice: Issues and Concerns, and Breaking the Silence on Human Rights and Gender Issues.
“Human rights organizations in India differ in their origins, histories, ideological orientation and strategies of intervention, but they share the same basic perspective, to gather information and influence implementation of human rights by the state or the government. They have successfully carved out a niche for themselves in the Indian polity. The human rights movement is nearly 70 years old, yet it continues to develop and mature,” Vatsala wrote in her 2016 book Human Rights Education: Issues and Challenges.
Despite authoring books on human rights, students say her actions don’t always reflect her writings. “She writes about rights, but when we raise basic issues like access to clean drinking water or proper washroom facilities, she doesn’t listen,” said a third-year student.
One principal, many complaints
Several students and faculty members ThePrint spoke to said Vatsala can often be seen walking around the campus, speaking politely with professors and students. She is also known for crashing lectures. But, say students, it’s not difficult to find her—unless you have a complaint.
“The principal talks very kindly and often meets with students. However, when we approach her with issues such as the lack of drinking water or the absence of fans in classrooms, she either doesn’t listen or takes no action for months,” said a third-year BCom student.
The classroom whose walls Vatsala coated with cow dung does not have a working fan. Cow dung, students said, was her way of resolving the issue.
“The principal’s job is to listen to the students’ concerns and find solutions, not conduct experiments in classrooms. And if she was doing this to cool the classroom, then her office would need the most cooling,” said Khatri. His protest, smearing cow dung in the principal’s office, was widely cheered on social media.
The DUSU president claimed there have been multiple complaints about the college’s infrastructure, water supply, and washroom facilities in recent months, but the administration has taken no action.
“The principal listens to the students’ complaints and then simply walks away,” he added.
Khatri shared emails he received from students highlighting the infrastructure issues and the administration’s inaction.
“Delhi University is known all over the world, and for any principal to do something like this without notice or consultation with the administration or faculty is against the dignity of the college,” said a faculty member from the Hindi department.
(Edited by Prashant)
Your information about The Principal Mrs. Pratyush Vatsala is wrong. She is not from Balia , Uttar Pradesh.She is from Faizabad(Now Ayodhya) Uttar Pradesh. She has completed all her studies here, and also became professor in the same college Saket Degree College,Ayodhya Faizabad, from where she completed her studies.She is really very studious and intelligent and gentle person.