DU history row: 22 of 38 PG papers missing as faculty questions syllabus panel
By TUF News Desk · Published 11 November 2026 · 4 min read
Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy
Only 16 of the 38 elective papers Delhi University’s History Department proposed for its postgraduate third semester made it into the syllabus notified on August 7. The rest are still waiting, and the department says the review shut its own head out of the final decisions.
The row surfaced in a letter the department head, Anirudh Deshpande, wrote to Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh on October 9. At a Department Council meeting on September 10, Deshpande told faculty he was “not being made a party to final decisions” on the syllabus review. The council recorded its dismay at the committee’s make-up and asked Deshpande to raise it with the Vice-Chancellor.
The letter also takes aim at the committee’s recommendations. One of them is to drop ‘History of Education in Colonial India’ (DSE 31), a paper the department says it has taught for more than a decade. The committee described the paper as “ideologically loaded”. The department calls that charge disturbing, and points to the reading list to answer it. The paper covers indigenous education, the Orientalist-Anglicist debates, Dalit and Adivasi experiences, missionaries and reformers, and nationalist alternatives such as Swadeshi education and Nai Talim.
The October 9 letter says almost half of the Semester III Discipline Specific Elective papers are yet to be notified, including papers on the history of caste, gender, labour and the Northeast. The letter argues the notified papers are not enough for second-year MA History students, including those in the one-year postgraduate programme. It adds that papers suggested by the faculty went undiscussed at Standing Committee meetings for three months before the Expert Committee was set up.
What the committee says in reply
Not everyone on the committee accepts the department’s account. Dr Ankit Agrawal, an assistant professor of History at PGDAV College and a committee member, told The Indian Express that every paper the department brought was discussed, and that the head took part in all meetings and his views were taken into account. Committee chairperson Shriprakash Singh and Deshpande both declined to comment, and the Vice-Chancellor did not respond. The university had earlier defended the review, saying some History papers were changed after Standing Committee clearance.
Academic Council member Maya John said due process for framing syllabi is continually compromised, with department heads often told to change syllabi at the Standing Committee stage, including the removal of whole papers vetted by departmental committees. She said an oversight committee should be formed through the university’s statutory bodies.
The Indian Express reported in August that several papers taught for decades, including ‘The Delhi Sultanate: Structures of Authority in Medieval North India (13th-14th Centuries)’, were missing from the revised postgraduate syllabus.
The department wants the Semester IV syllabus handled differently: the papers submitted to the Dean of Academic Affairs should be discussed through the university’s statutory academic bodies, not sent to another Expert Committee, before the semester begins in January 2027. It has also sought an early meeting with the Vice-Chancellor. Normally, proposals go from a department’s Committee of Courses to the Standing Committee, then the Academic Council and the Executive Council. Students weighing Delhi University can read our guide on how to choose a university in India. Notified syllabi appear on the university site at du.ac.in, and the Department of History’s official page carries its faculty and programme details.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Delhi University’s History Department objecting to the syllabus review?
The department says its head was kept out of final decisions by a Vice-Chancellor-appointed Expert Committee. A committee member denies this.
Which paper does the committee want dropped from the PG syllabus?
‘History of Education in Colonial India’ (DSE 31), taught for more than a decade. The committee called it ideologically loaded; the department rejects the charge.
How many elective papers are still missing from the Semester III syllabus?
Only 16 of the 38 proposed elective papers appeared in the syllabus notified on August 7. Almost half are yet to be notified.
What does the department want for the Semester IV syllabus?
It wants the papers discussed through the university’s statutory academic bodies before the semester begins in January 2027.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Delhi University's History Department objecting to the syllabus review?
The department says its head was kept out of final decisions by a Vice-Chancellor-appointed Expert Committee. A committee member denies this.
Which paper does the committee want dropped from the PG syllabus?
'History of Education in Colonial India' (DSE 31), taught for more than a decade. The committee called it ideologically loaded; the department rejects the charge.
How many elective papers are still missing from the Semester III syllabus?
Only 16 of the 38 proposed elective papers appeared in the syllabus notified on August 7. Almost half are yet to be notified.
What does the department want for the Semester IV syllabus?
It wants the papers discussed through the university's statutory academic bodies before the semester begins in January 2027.
Sources: The Indian Express, DU Beat