Friday, May 17

The Galgotias University Everyone Talking About

Edited by Fazal Rahman Chembulangad

A NAAC A+ accredited Private autonomous university, Galgotias University grabbed headlines when a group of student from the varsity took out a protest march against the Congress party Delhi. The demonstration, however, fell prey to the trollers as the protesting students became clueless when they were asked about their motives.

Following the embarrassing turn of events, netizens sarcastically called Galgotias University “a physical building of WhatsApp University,” referring to the lack of student awareness about the country’s politics.

Galgotias University has been administered by the Shakuntla Educational and Welfare Society established in 1998. The society also runs three other colleges: Galgotias Institute of Management & Technology (GIMT) Galgotias College of Engineering & Technology (GCET) and Galgotia College of Pharmacy (GCP).

The university’s website introduces  Dr. Dhruv Galgotia as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Aradhana Galgotia as its director. Suneel Galgotias serves as the Chancellor and Dr. K Mallikharjuna Babu is the vice chancellor.

The university, which began its operations in the 2011-2012 academic session, with its first batch of students starting their classes in July 2011, claims to provide world-class education producing technically prepared critical thinkers. 

However, the video of the students unable to explain the motive of their protest has drawn sarcastic comments and sharp criticisms on social media. The placards and posters of the protest showed “inheritance tax and urban Naxals” but the protesting students failed to explain what they meant by the slogans they raised when a reporter from  Aaj Tak asked them during the protest. 

Netizens also questioned how a private university allowed its students to take out a march against a political party, noting the lack of  basic political understanding among the protesting students. Several people highlighted the ignorant attitude of the potential voters in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

According to the details emerging after the latest developments, the university administration allegedly has a close connection with ruling BJP and some party leaders were part of the varsity events organised in the past.