New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Delhi University reopened Wednesday to thousands of first-year students stepping into a new phase of their life, and police personnel mounting strict vigil to check ragging.
Breaking its 30-year-old tradition, the university commenced its academic session for the year 2010-11 July 21, instead of July 16.

“I am very excited to be a part of Delhi University because I am starting a new phase of my life, from school to college,” said a cheerful Vibha Singh, a first-year student of Kirori Mal College.

With some first year students’ parents coming all the way to drop them to their colleges on the first day of the session, traffic jams were reported in the university area.

But the irritant could not dampen the enthusiasm of fresh students who, in their colourful attire, seemed to be having a great time.

Groups of girls and boys could be seen in the college gardens and cafeterias.

“I am very lucky to get admission in DU. It was my dream to come here,” said 18-year-old Priyanka Luthra who has taken admission to SGTB Khalsa college.

All colleges opened at 8 a.m. and most planned orientation programmes for students on the first day.

Strict anti-ragging arrangements were in place in the north and south campuses as men and women police officials, in uniform and plain clothes, patrolled the area.

Several police pickets, intensive patrolling on foot and motorcycle, squads to check harassment, PCR vans, surprise check in buses and videography arrangements were in place.

The area station house officer was himself present outside the Ramjas College in north campus.

“The university is geared to ensure peace and harmony while welcoming the students. We are working in tandem with the law enforcement agencies to ensure that incidents of ragging are addressed strictly,” said Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, deputy dean of students’ welfare.

Special disciplinary cells and vigilance teams have been formed by colleges following the guidelines issued by the proctor’s office.

Hindu College Principal V.K. Srivastava said: “We have formed an anti-ragging committee comprising of faculty members and students. Around seven of them are putting up in the hostel.”

“We have deliberately involved them to prevent ragging in hostel. If we still find any miscreant, we will just expel or rusticate him,” he said.

For the students, the nervousness of the first day and fear of being ragged by seniors was replaced by a warm welcome as they stepped into their respective colleges.

“I was definitely nervous, specially about ragging. But the atmosphere is friendly and seniors are cooperative,” said Neha Gupta, a first-year student in Miranda House.

But amidst the strict patrolling and vigilance, there were some fresh students who wanted a formal introduction to break the ice between them and the seniors.

Shivali Prasad, a student pursuing Spanish (Honours) from Faculty of Arts, said that although she was not ragged by any senior, a casual introduction did take place in the morning.

“These kind of things are very important and I am all for it. There has to be some communication,” she said.

Taking advantage of the large attendance on the campus, the World Lung Foundation in association with the Delhi University and Delhi Police educated students on the ill-effects of smoking.

The Delhi University is a no-smoking zone.

Leaflets highlighting dangers of smoking were distributed among students. It also warned the students not to rag anyone as it was an offence.

An elephant sporting anti-tobacco banners did the rounds on the campus.

Around 54,000 students started their graduation courses in several colleges of the Delhi University Wednesday.

Almost 5,000 seats have been added this year to keep up with the growing number of applicants.

The session’s start this year was delayed by five days due to the newly-introduced semester system. The system is only for science stream students as of now; students from commerce and humanities streams will follow the annual system.