Taking law into their own hands

Teachers Day special

In a unique experiment, the Lucknow-based Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University will give its students similar ‘privilege and power’ in ‘real life’.

On September 5 – Teachers’ Day – the administration and the teaching faculty of the university would be handed over to the students to familiarise themselves in good governance and the value of discipline.

“While one student will turn vice chancellor, another would become dean (academic) — for only a day, of course,” university Vice Chancellor Prof Balraj Chauhan told Deccan Herald here. “The VC’s post will be given to the top student of the fourth semester and the dean’s post to the one who attains second position,” Chauhan said. A core committee comprising five most disciplined students would also be formed to advise “the VC and the dean” in academic and administrative functions.

Chauhan said the objective  was to enable students to get familiar with good governance and the practical difficulties faced by authorities in the university’s daily administration.

“We will provide them with a copy of the University Act and other regulations so that they are aware of what they can and cannot do,” Chauhan pointed out.

Chauhan said the idea of the experiment had struck him on August 15 last while interacting with students when many of them raised questions about certain administrative steps. On whether the decisions, if any, taken by ‘the VC and the dean for a day’ would be implemented, Chauhan said the university authorities would implement all the decisions found to be genuine and in accordance with the rules.