New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) A fresh protest was staged on Thursday by the staff association of Delhi University’s (DU) Dyal Singh Evening College over the proposed renaming of the institution, amid growing anticipation that the matter may be taken up at an upcoming meeting of the Executive Council.
This comes amidst ongoing objections among faculty members of the university regarding the issue, following a public announcement by Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh in December 2025, when he had spoken about renaming the evening college after Sikh warrior Banda Singh Bahadur on the occasion of Vir Bal Diwas.
Following the same, the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) had also written to the VC in January 2026, requesting him to stop the renaming process.
On Thursday, the college’s staff association held a dharna and submitted a memorandum, reiterating that despite repeated representations requesting the convening of a meeting to deliberate on the proposed name change, the college administration had not taken any cognisance of the matter.
“The legacy of Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia must be maintained,” the memorandum urged, further mentioning that the staff association demands that an immediate meeting be convened.
The memorandum also demanded a written assurance from the administration that the location of the college will not be changed.
The last demand, as explained by Mithilesh Kumar Singh, faculty member and president of the staff association, is related to clause 12 of the transfer order, when the college was handed from the Dyal Singh College Trust Society to DU.
“The clause says that as long as the college is in the same location, the name cannot be changed,” Singh said, adding, “How can such a decision be taken independently by the administration, without even consulting the staff council?” Despite anticipations of the matter being tabled at the upcoming EC meeting, DU registrar Vikas Gupta told PTI that the agenda matter has not been included for this immediate meeting, scheduled to take place on April 29.
This is, however, not the first attempt at renaming the college.
Ramjilal, former principal of Dyal Singh College, Karnal, said that the first attempt dates back to 2017. The Karnal college is affiliated to the Kurukshetra University and is still managed by the Dyal Singh College Trust Society.
“In November 2017, a proposal to rename the college as Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya College had failed. A second attempt passed by the college’s governing body in the same year wanted to rename Dyal Singh Evening College as Vande Mataram Mahavdyalaya,” Ramjilal told PTI.
He added that this attempt, however, triggered a controversy and received support from teachers, academicians, politicians and leaders from all over, ultimately leading to a stay order on the decision.
Criticising the renewed attempts at renaming the college, Ramjilal said , “A new institution can be established in any part of Delhi, Haryana or Punjab and that can be named after Banda Singh Bahadur. Renaming an established institution is unnecessary and an insult to the legacy of Dyal Singh Majithia.” PTI AHD AHD AMJ AMJ
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