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Cow dung on DU classroom: Student union defaces principal's office

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16th April, 2025 14:10 IST

New Delhi: Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president Ronak Khatri on Tuesday, April 15, smeared cow dung on the walls of Lakshmibai College principal’s office, escalating a row that ignited after she was caught on video coating classroom walls with cow dung for “cooling” them.

In the video, widely shared on social media, principal Pratyush Vatsala was seen coating classroom walls with cow dung.

“No consent was taken from students for such an initiative,” Khatri told PTI Videos while arguing with a faculty member inside the principal’s office.

“If you want to do research, do it at your home,” he said.

The principal told PTI on April 13 that the faculty-led initiative was part of an ongoing research aimed at exploring indigenous and sustainable cooling techniques.

There was no immediate response from the university regarding Tuesday’s incident.

In a post on X, Khatri referenced the principal’s viral video and sarcastically said that he and his supporters had gone to “help” her by plastering her office walls as well.

“We have full faith that madam will now get the AC removed from her room and hand it over to students, and run the college in this modern and natural cool environment smeared with cow dung,” he wrote.

In defense of her now-viral video, Principal Vatsala on April 13 said it was part of an ongoing research project conducted in porta cabins.

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“It is under process. I will be able to share details of the full research after a week,” she had said, stressing that misinformation was being spread without full context.

“There’s no harm in touching natural mud,” she added.

The principal reportedly shared the video in a teachers’ WhatsApp group, noting that the indigenous method was being used to cool classrooms in C Block.

“Those who have classes here will soon get these rooms in a new look. Efforts are being made to make your teaching experience pleasant,” she wrote.

The administration maintains that the method is part of scientific inquiry into sustainable practices amid rising temperatures in the capital.

Later, while speaking to the media, DUSU president Ronak Khatri questioned the principal’s actions of applying cow dung in the classroom and calling it a ‘work of research.’

“She considers this college her experiment lab, so I did the same in her room…How could they apply cow dung to a classroom without students’ permission?” he asked, adding they plan to register a police complaint against the principal.

Upon her absence when her office was smeared with cow dung by the DUSU president Ronak Khatri earlier in the day, the principal of DU’s Lakshmibai College Pratyush Vatsala said she had a “pre-scheduled program.”

“Yes, discussions were held with students…I wasn’t here. Someone texted me on WhatsApp that Ronak Khatri was coming to me but I had a pre-scheduled program…I wasn’t here when he reached…Sometimes, students do something out of zeal. I will speak with my staff first and then make a decision if required,” she told news agency ANI.


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