New Delhi: Days after the principal of Delhi University’s Lakshmibai College, Pratyush Vatsala, applied cow dung to classroom walls, Delhi University Students’ Union president Ronak Khatri smeared cow dung on the walls of her office in protest.

In a video circulating on social media, Vatsala was seen applying cow dung in certain classrooms of the college after students complained of rising temperatures. She had called it a research experiment using ‘indigenous knowledge’ to combat the summer heat.

The exercise was carried out on the college’s second floor porta cabin classrooms as part of a faculty-led project titled ‘Study of Heat Stress Control by Using Traditional Indian Knowledge’, the Indian Express reported.

“The classrooms where we had held the experiment are located in a porta cabin and not a pucca structure… Several students have approached us with concerns about the increasing heat. So, we thought we would implement some indigenous methods to make these classrooms cooler,” Vatsala told the Indian Express.

The video has sparked backlash with students protesting the move.

In another video available on social media, Khatri can be seen smearing cow dung on Vatsala’s office walls while pointing out how the principal sits in an air-conditioned room while students are left to sit in classrooms covered in cow dung.

“The research ma’am [Vatsala] wanted to conduct in the classrooms will be carried out in her office as well,” Khatri is heard saying in the video.

“No consent was taken from students for such an initiative,” Khatri said.

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