The popularity of the Bachelors in Journalism course, in English, in Delhi University is fairly well-known.
Every year, the number of applicants to BA (Hons) Journalism in the varsity rivals those to the most coveted Economics, Commerce and even English (Honours). However, this time, a surprise entry into the list of the ‘10 most sought-after’ courses in DU has been ‘Hindi Patrakarita’.
Figures put up by the university immediately after closure of form submissions showed that no less than 85,950 students have applied for Hindi Patrakarita this year, leaving behind even BA (Hons) Journalism in English which has found 82,999 aspirants. This is inspite of the fact that the combined number of seats available in the course, in the four colleges where it is taught, amounts to barely 200.
Metrolife spoke to teachers of Hindi Patrakarita in DU, practising journalists as well as some students to find out the reasons behind the sudden and remarkable popularity of ‘Hindi Patrakarita’.
Dinesh Tiwari, lecturer at the Hindi department of DU says it is a reflection of the ever-increasing number of outstation students taking admission in the varsity.
“There was a time when, majorly, Delhi domicile students would seek admission in DU. They would come from affluent families and be better conversant in English than Hindi. In the past few years, a huge number of students from tier II and tier III cities such as Meerut, Gwalior, Agra and Siwan have started coming to DU and carry their own preference in courses.”
“The fact of the matter is that media has a very wide reach today,” the senior journalist with Hindustan elaborates, “These youngsters see Hindi newspapers and news channels back in their homes and get drawn to the glamour and power that the fourth estate wields. Naturally, they feel attracted to media and favour Hindi over English.”
Pradeep Kumar Singh, assistant professor in the Hindi department of the varsity, informs us that there were plans to shelve Hindi Patrakarita during the three-year versus four-year undergraduate programme controversy, “But we collected figures and proved to the varsity authorities that there have been more placements in four colleges of Hindi Patrakarita put together as compared to all the colleges which offer BA (Honours) Hindi in Delhi University.”
“It is a job-oriented course. You can call up any Hindi newspaper or news channel today and find for yourself the sizeable number of our students who are working there. The employment quotient is a big attraction for these students,” he points out. A journalist with Bhasha, the Hindi arm of the prominent news agency Press Trust of India, Anoop Bhatnagar, highlights the recent exponential growth that the Hindi news industry has seen, generating demand for more and more professionals.
“So many Hindi newspapers and channels have come up in the recent past, especially during the last Lok Sabha election, largely owned by power brokers like politicians, businessmen and even lobbyists. Obviously, they need people and there is an army of youngsters waiting to fill in such gaps.”
He also underlines the number of ‘journalism schools’ started by media houses to generate in-house employment. “Even if it serves their business interest first, youngsters who aspire to become journalists are also benefitted.”
At the same time, some teachers and students point to the intense labour this stream demands and the little remuneration that it offers in return. Chanchal Mehlawat, who passed out of BR Ambedkar College in Hindi Patraka-rita five years back, and now works with Aaj Tak, says, “In my batch of 40 students, only four of five actually became journalists. Sooner or later, they realise the difficulties and peter out.”
“It’s good news that so many students are showing interest in Hindi journalism but I am not sure how good a news it is for Hindi journalism.”