As vote counting for the DUSU polls is underway on Saturday, the story of how the Delhi University Students’ Union came into being offers a glimpse into the humble beginnings of one of the country’s most prominent student bodies.
Nearly eight decades after that first proposal was presented to the Executive Council, DUSU has grown into one of the country’s most prominent student representative bodies. The evolution of DUSU — from a small grant and a caretaker committee to a nationally watched electoral exercise — mirrors the changing nature of student politics and representation at Delhi University. Students paid ₹ 5 as the DUSU subscription fee until 2012-13. University officials said the fee was revised to ₹ 20 in 2013-14 and later increased to ₹ 40 on June 21, 2024.
These early records show efforts to give the student body an institutional footing, from financial accountability to administrative oversight. The constitutional structure of DUSU came under renewed consideration nearly two decades later. It also established a detailed administrative structure: The vice-chancellor was designated patron of DUSU, responsible for ensuring the union functioned in accordance with the constitution. The union’s structure also included a staff adviser, appointed by the patron from among the teaching faculty, and a treasurer whom the patron also appointed.
DUSU traces its origins to August 6, 1947, just days before India’s Independence, when the university’s vice-chancellor informed the Executive Council that a representative body of students desired to establish a university students’ union. The Council agreed in principle, noting that a committee would draft the necessary constitution and procedure, and proposed a small grant of ₹ 150 for the union’s preliminary expenses once it was formally constituted. That proposal, made just before midnight on August 15, 1947, marked the start of an institutional journey that would eventually turn DUSU into the representative body for students from most Delhi University colleges and faculties, and a key arena of campus politics that draws national attention. On March 27, 1953, the university’s Executive Committee considered an application from the University Students’ Union for a grant-in-aid, observing that the body should strive to become self-sufficient after already receiving ₹ 500 that year.
