Indian statute must for Mauritius students: VTU

Court mandates Constitution as a subject for Indian universities

These were questions placed before the university by the Mysore-based JSS group of educational institutions for its engineering college in Mauritius. The varsity was asked to consider dropping the mandatory subject on the Constitution of India for the students at the JSS Academy of Technical Education in Mauritius.

The university, after deliberating, has ruled that students must study the Indian Constitution. At a meeting of the executive council, the University’s highest decision-making body, a resolution was passed making it mandatory for the Mauritius institute to retain teaching of the Indian Constitution to its mostly non-Indian students.

The issue was first raised during the executive council meeting held in June, when a committee was constituted to study the needs of the students of Mauritius, and also to recommend the appropriate courses meaningful to the institution. The committee, headed by the dean, faculty of engineering, met in October and decided that mandatory courses must be retained at the Institute.

Following the committee's recommendation, the executive council ratified it and passed the order. A university official told Deccan Herald that they had no choice. “There is a court ruling that makes it mandatory for Indian universities to teach the Indian Constitution,” the official said.

Currently, students have to undertake study of the Indian Constitution and professional ethics as mandatory subjects during the first semester. They have to appear for a multiple choice question-based examination for 50 marks, and internal assessment of 25 marks, for a total of 75 marks.

Honorary degrees

For the upcoming convocation, VTU has recommended the following names to the governor to be presented with the honorary causa degree: UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, social worker and author Sudha Murthy, and Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan.