DUSU President smears cowdung on walls of Principal’s office in protest over Lakshmibai College incident

A controversial experiment at Delhi University’s Lakshmibai College involving cow dung as a cooling agent has triggered a strong reaction from the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU). On Tuesday, April 15, DUSU President Ronak Khatri staged a dramatic protest by applying cow dung to the walls of Principal Dr Pratyush Vatsala’s office, criticising what he called an unscientific and unhygienic approach to dealing with heat in classrooms. This protest comes in response to a widely circulated video showing Dr Vatsala applying a mud and cow dung-based slurry to the walls of a classroom.

She had described the initiative as part of a research study titled "Study of Heat Stress Control by Using Traditional Indian Knowledge", which aimed to explore low-cost, natural cooling alternatives for the college’s heat-prone porta cabin classrooms. Explaining the rationale behind the experiment, Dr Vatsala said it was in response to student complaints about the rising temperatures in temporary classrooms. The cooling slurry, she clarified, included a mix of clay, red soil, gypsum, straw, husk, and cow dung.



However, the initiative has not been well received by all. “No consent was taken from students. The principal, instead of providing air-conditioners, applied cow dung all across the classroom walls.

I visited the classroom today, and the entire classroom smells of cow dung,” said Khatri while speaking to The Indian Express. He accused the college administration of ignoring basic infrastructure issues such as inadequate drinking water and poor ventilation while diverting attention to what he called “performative research.” कुछ दिन पहले आप सभी ने लक्ष्मीबाई कॉलेज की प्राचार्या का वो ऐतिहासिक वीडियो देखा होगा, जिसमें वो कक्षा में गोबर लीपती नज़र आई थीं! अब इस क्रांतिकारी पहल को आगे बढ़ाते हुए, मैं अपने साथियों के साथ गोबर लेकर मैडम के ऑफिस जाऊँगा और उनके प्राचार्य कक्ष को लीपने में पूरी मदद करूँगा।.

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twitter.com/kdz4giCHnq In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Khatri wrote, “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.”.