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HRD MINISTRY OFFICIALS MEET DU VICE CHANCELLOR

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On 15th January, officials of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry met Delhi University (DU) Vice Chancellor (VC), Yogesh Tyagi, to discuss in detail the issue of recruitment of staff at the university and also, appeal to teachers to call off their month-long strike that began on 4th December 2019.

HRD Ministry met Yogesh Tyagi, Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, on Wednesday over the vehement issue of recruitment of teachers. The HRD officials also aimed to appeal to agitating teachers to call off their strike. DU teachers have raised several demands and one of these demands is the absorption of ad hoc teachers permanently and their tenure should be considered as part of their total service.

Amit Khare, the Higher Education Secretary of HRD Ministry met DU VC and some other University Officials and further appealed the teachers to withdraw their strike for the smooth functioning of the University as it would be in the best interests of all students.

All colleges and institutions have been asked to appoint contract, ad hoc, guest and temporary faculty before commencing the procedure of appointing permanent faculty. Another issue that has been taken up by the university is the additional requirement of faculty as per the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) scheme. The Ministry also offered an option to ad-hoc to appear for interviews for becoming permanent faculty. Earlier, DU was instructed to let ad-hoc faculty continue their service until the positions of permanent faculty are filled.

Last week, several officials associated with Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) had met officials of the HRD Ministry to discuss the demands raised by the teachers’ association. DU teachers went on an indefinite strike and collectively decided to boycott evaluation as a means to bring their demands forward. In the month of December, several protest marches were organized by DUTA to HRD Ministry and UGC.

Image Credits: The Financial Express

Suhani Malhotra

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DU’s Plea Against Construction of High-Rise in North Campus Dismissed

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The Delhi University’s plea challenging construction of a private real estate high-rise building in the University campus was dismissed by the Supreme Court on the grounds of “delay and laches.”

The Supreme Court dismissed the Delhi University’s (DU) plea against the construction of a high-rise real estate building in the North Campus, as permitted by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). On 12th May 2011, M/S Young Builders Private Limited received permission from the DDA for the construction of a housing society in the University campus without any height restrictions.

A total of three hectares of land was allotted to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) by the Ministry of Defence for the construction of the metro station, out of which two hectares were leased out for the construction of the private housing society. After a delay of seven to eight years, the University filed a plea challenging this construction before a single-judge bench in the Delhi High Court, however, the bench took note of the “delay and laches” and dismissed the plea on 27th April 2015.

Following this, a consequential intra-court appeal was moved before a two-judge bench of the High Court after a delay of 916 days. The court refused to overlook this delay of over two and a half years, pushing the University to move to the top court.

DU countered the DDA’s act of permitting construction of high-rise private buildings on campus and also sought to be excused for the delay in filing the first plea before the High Court. The University claimed that M/S Young Builders Private Limited’s construction of the group housing society was in violation of the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 and against the larger public interest, “given the fact that the project site in question and its vicinity are within the North Campus and that it contains historical buildings.” It also alleged that the construction site of these buildings was in proximity to various ladies’ hostels of the University, hence raising “an important privacy concern.”

However, top court bench, comprising Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna, stayed in agreement with the dismissal of the plea by the High Court on grounds of delay and laches. It said, “despite the writ petition having been filed belatedly in respect of certain actions which had commenced in the year 2005 and even though the writ petition was filed after obtaining approval of the Executive Council, no steps were taken to file the writ appeal for 916 days after disposal of the writ petition. In such circumstances, the cumulative effect of the delay and laches cannot be ignored”.

The Court also said, “We are of the opinion that not only the Single Judge was justified in holding that the writ petition inter alia is hit by delay and laches but the decision of the Division Bench in dismissing the LPA on the ground of delay of 916 days is also justified and the orders do not call for interference.”

Featured Image Credits: Jagran Josh

Aditi Gutgutia

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The Harsh Realities of the Student Protest Culture

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Students’ protests are often categorised as violent, disruptive, misdirected, politically motivated, and even ‘anti-national’. Let’s try to dissect why such co-relations and myths burn several minds.

Early in the morning of 19th December, I went to my college in South Delhi. The journey was tattered with hints of the ongoing unrest. While interchanging the metro at Rajiv Chowk, I heard the announcement that Vishwavidyalaya and Chandni Chowk Metro Stations have been closed off, moments later Twitter pinged with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation notification of three more metro stations being closed on Magenta line due to security reasons. An hour later, after I had safely reached my destination, my phone rang. My mother on the other side of the phone, panic-striken, was rapidly asking about my whereabouts and safety protocols, asking for my friend’s number, saying, “Bache shaitaani kar rahe hain sadko par.”  

This anecdote symbolises all that is wrong with inherent instincts against the idea of students on the street. It portrays the relationship between a wide protest and a household, where the unconditionally loving parents want their kids safe, away from political drama, and locked up in the world of academic drudgery. And hence, it also justifies denouncing the students who do come on the streets, as misdirected, fed false information, and politically provoked.

However, this utter belief of students just joining protest for fun and not knowing about the cause also comes from a place of highly charged political propaganda prevailing around the protest culture. The idea of students partaking in ‘anti-national’ sloganeering, provoking riots, vandalising public property, and enabling communal tensions is aggravated by large political bodies propagating these very ideas through doctored videos and cultural machinery of using have-have nots language. This might be the reason why the police didn’t deter from entering and brutally assaulting students in Jamia Millia Islamia campus, assuming the favoured and natured stance that it is intrinsic of student protestors to indulge in unlawful practices. The same was the reason cited by the many supporters of Delhi Police who reduced the act of violence as cautionary measure.

However, the fact is that it takes money and muscle power to turn any protests violent, which can be propagated by either sides of the coin to sustain their ideas. It is categorically and fundamentally difficult to believe that any student protestor, with minimal resource could indulge in violence. Hence, the onus of violent protests remains onto the large-dynamic parties with easy access and motives. Despite this, the blame comes onto the educated, politically and socially aware students, as they are the ones who become pawns in the game. Therefore, when students of Jawaharlal Nehru University came on the streets a few weeks ago, the whole-wide world went batshit crazy, not focusing on the facts, but just that students are yet-again raising their voices.

This then motivates suppression of voice, paranoid, and resilience. The State, to avoid the aforementioned ‘damage of public property and security reasons’, suppress protests that might cause socio-political unrest. Suspension of metro-internet services, denying protest-permits hours before protest, and detaining protesters even before march had begun were the means to achieve disbandment of the 19th December protest. While, the students on the other hand, imagining the worst, had started sharing legal aid contacts and ‘steps-to-follow-if-you-are-detained’ stories for awareness, signifying the instinctual fear associated with going to protests. The paranoia of being misheard, misrepresented, and misused to incite communal or social fire also remains with texts of ‘How-to-identify-miscreants-in-the-crowd’ also being circulated rigorously, to ensure that their peaceful protest for a cause doesn’t become a stepping stone for any forms of misheard communal hatred and violence.

It is in instinctually wrong for students or their parents to be scared of protests. It is not even about Freedom of Speech, but rather the idea of a Democratic Republic where safe and peaceful protests don’t translate into students’ childishness or lack of political awareness but rather, are heard as an appeal of Justice, Rights, and Liberty. 

Despite constantly hoping for protests to be perceived as perpetually propelling positivity, the harsh reality is that asking for any form of ‘aazadi’ and ‘freedom’ is going to be a politically charged statement and not a critique of democracy, and therefore, the students on the streets are always going to be ‘shaitaan’ and ‘troublemakers’ and not student leaders fighting for themselves. 

Featured Image Credits: The Wire

Sakshi Arora

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DU Student Protesters Attacked in Arts Faculty

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University of Delhi (DU) students organised a protest in the Arts Faculty of the university on 16th November, in solidarity with Jamia Milia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.

 

The Political Science department of the Delhi University (DU) decided to boycott today’s exam. In the protest, the crowd could be heard chanting slogans like, “Amit Shah, Istifa Do” and “DU Prashasan Murdabad”. But, as the protest grew, the police were called in. The protest shifted from the Social Science building’s entrance to down the stairs where the police then began to manhandle students.

Although the police tried to snatch away the phones of the people recording, videos of the police manhandling the students chanting these slogans surfaced online. In one video, the policemen were dragging the All India Students’ Association (AISA) Presidential Candidate for Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) 2018, Abhigyan, while the student away while the crowd was chanting.

The police constables were allegedly heard saying “10 minutes mein sabka kaam khatam, ABVP bulaye hai abhi. (everything will end in 10 minutes for we have called ABVP)”

Soon after, other members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also arrived along with Akshit Dahiya, DUSU President. “Kitne bacchon ka paper hai… Sir aap inhe bahar karo na (so many kids are giving their exams. Please take these people outside),” said Akshit, referring to the protesters.

However, after the arrival of ABVP, the protesters got chased and beaten up by the ABVP members and the police. On multiple videos, the police could be seen manhandling and detaining the students. Bharat Sharma, State Executive Committee member of ABVP, and Sonal Sharma, Ankita Biswas, and Inderjeet Dagar, members of ABVP were caught on tape verbally and physically assaulting the student protestors.

“Akshit Dahiya arrived and ABVP goons started pouring in. Soon, it became complete chaos. Police and ABVP hitting the protestors. Those with the ‘dandas‘ are ABVP goons. Police lent them the batons. Many protestors were detained,” said Noihrit Gogoi, a student who got beaten up at the protest.

Another student present at the protest added, “I got hit on my face. Ten ABVP boys circled me and called me a terrorist and snatched my phone as I was making a video. Akshit Dahiya gave them orders to snatch my phone in front of me. Police were just watching and did nothing.”

Messages of students warning each other to stay away from the Arts Faculty were also circulated on Whatsapp. Meanwhile, the students of the University started sharing messages asking people to message Akshit Dahiya regarding his statement supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “Spread the word, guys. He has to take this statement down. And that can only happen when students across DU unite. Please text him and let him know that DU does not stand with CAA,” read one message.

“The Delhi University Students’ Union condemns the attack of the academic process of the university by student groups in a move of forcefully preventing students from appearing in examinations… When the affected students called the DUSU President for help, the DUSU President immediately reached the spot and asked the protesters to continue the protest but not force any student to either join or boycott the examination. This led to a clash which sustained injuries on DUSU office bearers and members,” said the DUSU, in its press release.

Akshit Dahiya added, “It is my duty to go out to help the students who are appearing for the exams if they are stopped from doing so. The students called me for help and when I went, I was attacked by them. They raised anti-national slogans in front of me. We can never let such things happen in DU. We reject any lockdown call for DU. We condemn the act of such violent perpetrators and such environment building cannot be tolerated.”

Saimon Farooqi, National Secretary, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) said, “We conducted a very peaceful protest inside the university campus itself. The police mistreated us. Rocky Tuseed who was the DUSU President in 2017 was also manhandled… we were just fighting for our rights and exercising our rights. If these ABVP members are against our protest, it reflects their ideologies. And because they follow the footprints of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it reflects in those parties also.”

The police then took the protesters at the Arts Faculty to Jantar Mantar in their police bus for them to continue the protest at Jantar Mantar as the situation became too violent on the campus.

 

Featured Image Credits: Arsh Mehdi

Satviki Sanjay

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Jamia Millia Student Protest Faces Violence By Delhi Police

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As students, teachers and administration protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, police turn against the protesters with harsh measures but only to empower the movement.

A few days back, while I was learning about Justice and Legislation, Thomas Jefferson’s words caught my attention, he said, “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty,” but never did I imagine that this quote by the former US President would find relevance in such contexts and conditions or at this price at all. It was Friday, 13th December when the students and teachers of Jamia Millia Islamia University gathered in the University campus to perform their rightful duty by expressing their rejection of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019 and the Center’s unconstitutional and illegitimate policies.

A hard line of explanation has already been promulgated with regard to the irrelevance and catastrophic outcomes that the Act has on the minorities of the country, it has been well substantiated to be deemed as unconstitutional if not immoral on their part. While Arundhati Roy called the CAB coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as an attempt to threaten, destabilise and stigmatise Indian Muslims, several other Parliamentarians retorted to the Parliament to oppose the legislation of the Citizenship Amendment Bill but only after they failed in their attempt, people across the nation took to the streets to protest against this Bill and stimulate its necessary withdrawal.

The nationwide protests specifically in Kolkata, Assam and Kerala witnessed it’s grandeur in the Capital when students, teachers, and staff of Jamia Millia Islamia came together to express their concerns and register their grievances with regard to the CAB, but what followed was all the more condemning of the police and the administration. There was a time when dissent was India’s best export and protests and marches gathered the necessary attention with successful influence on the decisions and policy matters, but today while the former still holds true it is only to restrict, defame and vandalise the student and university property.

The protest as called by the JMI Teachers Association (JTA), Jamia Administrative Staff Association (JASA), SRK Association and Jamia School’s Teachers Association was on its third day after similar protests were organised by the Hall of Boys Residents and Hall of Girls Residents on 11th and 12th December. The protests that were carried out silently ensuring that it’s met with zero damage to public property or hindrance to the general public was rather cosplayed by the police forces pretending to provide security to the students.

After the teachers and administration addressed the protesters, the gathering was supposed to March towards the Parliament house which was deliberately stopped by the police administration at the Julena Crossing; no one was allowed to cross the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Marg, which runs across the University and, hence, thousands were trapped amidst the commotion that followed.

Undoubtedly, the Delhi Police were prepared for these measures as nothing else could’ve brought a force of thousands of policemen backed with tear gas and armoury that were used to control a bunch of student protesters. The clash between the students and the police had severe repercussions with brutal baton charges and firing being employed in the name of control and disciplinary actions, the actions further agitated the movement and inspired the protesters to take their movement a step further with support and solidarity from writers, actors, lawyers, bureaucrats and other organisations.

“What inspires every student to connect with this movement is the fact that Jamia is devoid of any particular political union, hence, discarding the claims of being driven with a political motive, students are just united against oppression to express unity,” says Mohammad Altamash, of Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia.

The media has surely portrayed everything otherwise and rather than reporting facts has fabricated the entire narrative against the students.

As we enter the fourth day, students are back inside the campus but have not stopped voicing their concerns and are now more empowered than ever before or as Mohammad Bilal Farooqui, Department of History, Jamia Millia Islamia says, “Jamia will never be the same.”

 

 

Featured Image Credits: Arsh Mehdi(@tenplusthree)

Faizan Salik

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The Journey of The First Semester of College

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How does college life hold up to the expectations of freshers?

 

I remember how I walked into my college the first day- dressed dandy, eyes glimmering with hope and my tote bag heavy, with things enough to last a zombie attack. The college itself was brimming enthusiasm and anticipation- the kind of anticipation only 18-year-old kids finally going to college can muster.

For some, college life is a new beginning. For others, it’s a chance to finally delve into what they love. Regardless, I wasn’t the only excited 18-year-old there. A romantic by heart, I was expecting my own Pitch Perfect-esque adventures.  Coming to college felt like that Miley Cyrus song, the one where she hops off with a dream and a cardigan.

The first week of college felt great, but I knew it was too good to be true. The rose glasses soon came off. What I expected were breezy days where I could dress up to my heart and come and leave whenever I wanted, finally doing something I truly was interested in. What I soon found out was that technically college was all that, except with an asterisk that said Terms and Conditions apply in the fine print.

While I already had low expectations, the first thing that college changed was my study habits. Education took a backseat on this ride. Travelling for an hour for just one class became a chore and education for me started revolving around attendance, assignment submissions, internals, and externals. Like every other fresher, I got involved in college societies.

The biggest surprise that came was how the hype around societies failed to meet the expectations. The entire buzz around societies, auditions, and inductions mellowed down as soon as it dawned on us that societies, too, weren’t all games. The first week was filled with overenthusiastic students like me eager to be a part of every society possible. Fast forward to two months later, and half of us had already left or were regretting what we joined.

The desire to join a society, though, felt like a part of my bigger desire to fit in. To find a place. To finally figure out what it was that I was meant to do. It was easy to get lost in a space where everyone is just as talented, especially when I was still on my path to self-discovery and enlightenment.

The one thing that college did get right is the diversity and variety. That any given point of time, there was something happening for someone. Interested in student politics? There’s a protest in the Arts Faculty. A film critic? The film society is hosting a screening. Into drama? There’s a street play at the metro station. And this gave me, and every other fresher out there, a chance to try out new things.

College life showed me how it is easy to get caught up in this whirlpool. Easy to get lost in the eye of all this newfound freedom. Easy to forget who I was amidst assignments, projects, new friends, and ‘getting a life’. What they said was that college was about going out of my comfort box, meeting new people and discovering myself. What they didn’t tell me was how college was also five continuous classes a day, piling coursework and sometimes biting off more than I could chew.

But what I’m learning is that college comes with so many firsts. But it also seems like a place that makes things last and I’m just taking my time on my ride!

 

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Satviki Sanjay

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An Eye For An Eye Leaves The Whole World Blind, Or Does It?

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TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains mention of rape, sexual assault and/or violence.

 

The irony is that we live in a society that preaches ethics and lauds the contrary. The Hyderabad gang-rape and murder baffled the country, and the police encounter which followed tells about what happens when ethics and justice don’t deliver what they were meant for. Read on to find the divided opinions about it.  

The whole was nation was outraged by the horrific gang-rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinary doctor in Hyderabad. The public outcry was similar when the Nirbhaya gang-rape happened. And it is the same sentimental response when such incidents happen every single time. However, there is hardly any difference when it comes to women’s safety earlier and now. And by the time you finish reading this article, another similar incident might have occurred. The only difference being that some get reported and drive the heated response while some don’t, and then everything goes back to normal. The only thing which changes is that a woman gets more scared of being a woman.

The brutal gang-rape and murder in Hyderabad just exemplifies the situation of how things go wrong when the burden of women’s safety is laid on women, rather than targeting the root cause. And what ensued was mere hypocrisy of the society which preaches Natural Justice. The police encounter of the accused rapists violated not only violated legal realms, but also the ethical principles on which idea of India was based on. However, there were two sides of the coin which needed to be understood before we make a normative judgement.

Niharika Dabral, the former Associate Editor of DU Beat highlighted, “The incident has all signs of a fake encounter and it’s not justice. The police were pulling a Bollywood hero move just to distract people from its own callousness that might have prevented the tragic murder in the first place. We, as a society, still have primitive blood-thirst and one must evolve over it otherwise there is no difference between us and the criminals. The public will always ask for public execution and might even applaud these moves, but the state has to be more responsible with how it uses its power and as feminist we must not forget the real issues.”

Democracy differentiates itself from majoritarianism by virtue of certain individual and group rights it commits itself to. The will of a temporary majority cannot breach those rights. To secure those rights, certain institutions and institutional mechanisms are integral to democracy. However, when these institutions fail in their role, the fundamental reasoning behind the whole argument fails.

Avni Dhawan, from Kamala Nehru College, said, “There’s nothing wrong with having sentiments and feeling angry. It’s been years of sitting helplessly and blaming the judicial system. And I think there’s a quite thick line between justified actions and justice. There had to come to a point where one crosses the line given the situation in the country. You talk about how this isn’t any solution to the future rape cases, but years of court’s order and our laws couldn’t put a stop to it either.”  The rape survivor in Unnao was burnt alive while she was demanding justice, through apt channels. And this shows how the whole premise of ethics and justice dissolve when they don’t deliver what they were meant for.

On the other hand, Faizan Salik commented, “In this case, public sentiments narrativized media, which acted as a pressure group, but what followed it was absolutely unconstitutional, from here the case is just not about the crime but how the legal action prompted.”

Today’s society is a world where lynching and blood-thirst have become common parlance. In light of the encounter, the four accused rapists were not influential, rich or belonged to the upper section of the society and thus became an easy target of the “justice” carried out by the police. Would such justice be carried out with the affluent and privileged sections of the society? It would be a very short-sighted view to hail the police encounter if one really cares about women’s safety. The root cause of the issue has not been targeted. If institutions were in place working efficiently, the story could have been different altogether. If we forget the foundation of a progressive society which we all aspire for, we can’t give an excuse like this one for not adhering to it.

 

Featured Image Credits: The Hindu

 

Sriya Rane 

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Why Don’t Students Get Jobs?

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This piece aims to answer the following questions- do these courses guarantee a job? What’s the reason behind so many students not finding a decent job? What is the merit of these long, hard years of education?

In the Indian education system, the success of the education imparted is measured by the size of the package, and in the Indian society the prestige of a person is as big as their cabinet. This desire has set a generalised pattern for all, and it uplifts those courses that guarantee job placement. Hence, 9,35,741 students appeared for the JEE MAINS this year or why children are often pressurised by their parents to take Science, because “kaafi scope hai na.”

Students face tremendous pressure to first get extraordinary great marks to beat the cut-offs, then do extremely well in their entrances for their masters or carry the enormous burden of their undergraduate just for landing a job. Each level of education is just a steppingstone to a job. Yet, we face one of the biggest unemployment challenges ever. How can a system which has made children as young as twelve internalise the need for a good job, fail at that same thing?

As per United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over half of the Indian students will not be eligible for 21st Century jobs and here are few reasons for it:

 

1. Increased competition

The days when college was only accessible to the rich and elite are over. College has become more affordable and much more competitive. This happens due to the wave of the popular profession. In the 1980s, Law was considered the profession that gets students a job, in the 1990s it was replaced by civil services and medical practice. In the 2000s, Engineering took off and now it is Chartered Accountancy. The result?

A record number of college applications across the nation, resulting in more college graduates, and thus, more competition for the limited number of jobs available on the market.

The secondary effect of this is that the days when having a degree alone would get you a job are over. The “prestige” that comes with having a degree has now become diluted with the rampant number of students graduating in that highly concentrated field.

 

2. Little or no work experience

This about the student’s famous catch 22 position. This situation arises when they have no job experience, yet all the jobs out there require it if you want to apply. So, they can’t get a job because they have no experience and in order to get a job, they need a job for work experience, but they can’t get a job without work experience and the cycle viciously continues.

One way to get out of this cycle is to not pass up on jobs that you may think are beneath you. Swallow your pride and take those jobs or intern for free at a company you would like to work at. Always keep in mind that jobs can lead to other jobs.

3. Lack of networking

Many people get jobs through referrals. Statistics show this is how a majority of people get their jobs. The reason why word of mouth is so effective is that it cuts through all the worry of whether, or not, this person can do the job.

If somebody has been working for a company for some time, then that employee knows what it takes to succeed, and if that employee knows somebody who can do it, it’s an easy fit. The employer will trust the employee referring the new candidate and the new candidate will most likely get the job.

 

4.The age-old syllabus

It’s very likely that if you do the same course as your parents, the syllabus covered by both of you would be the same. So much so, that even the books would be the same despite the rampant technology growth. There’s a huge difference between the job that students want, and the course taught to them. Their course even lacks the skills required to handle 21st Century jobs. Hence, the conventional pattern never breaks.

 

5.Lack of personal and social skills

The biggest myth is that a degree guarantees a job, however in many cases, students have landed jobs due to their great interview skills or lifted attitude. But those skills are never taught, let alone talked about. As per a study conducted by BridgeLabz, more than one-third of the engineering students were non-employable and the biggest reason for it was lack of self-confidence. In India, as many as fifty three percent will leave secondary school without getting the skills needed for a decent job.

 

India, in particular, has to worry about its current and future unemployment too. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), its unemployment rate stood at 8.45 percent. As more sectors fall into the throes of the ongoing slowdown, like auto, followed by telecom and IT, joblessness is all set to rise. Three major technology giants, Capgemini, Infosys, and Cognizant are cutting as many as five hundred senior-level jobs. Further, the future of as many as one lakh employees of BSNL’s vendors are in limbo, as the telecom operator is yet to pay 200 billion INR in dues.

There is no doubt, that the education system is flawed, there is a much greater emphasis on marks than practicality. And it is evident, that a dire change is how students approach higher education is required but the dreading economy doesn’t help their case either.

 

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat

 

Chhavi Bahmba 

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The United Nurse Association Crisis

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Since 1st November, 2019, the United Nurse Association has been protesting at Jantar Mantar for minimum wage. However, the struggle started in 2011, won on paper in 2016 with the Supreme Court verdict, and yet they are denied it till today.

The United Nurse Association (UNA) has been protesting day and night at Jantar Mantar to implement the Supreme Court verdict they fought for minimum wage years ago. The UNA caters to more than 10,000 private nurses that further carter to tens of thousands of patients in private hospitals.

The struggle began in 2011 and continued with many marches and protests to meet with the Chief Minister (CM) of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, to raise this issue. After being told in every meeting by him that he can only do something after the Supreme Court passes the verdict, the entire nurse association worked in same terrible conditions fighting for minimum wage.

Viveki, General Secretary of United Nurse Association said, “We were called to the residence of the CM at Civil Lines, Delhi. We begged them to help us; he promised that he’ll go to the extent of even protesting with us once the verdict comes out. However, after the verdict, he has refused all sorts of communication with us.”

However, after a tedious battle the verdict was passed in 2016 in Supreme Court in favour of the nurses.

As per the Supreme Court judgement dated 29-01-2016 in WCP(c)527/2011, nurses who are working in private hospitals in Delhi must get their salary according to the Bed Status, the salary bracket made by the Court which should have been implemented:

 

  1. In case of less than 200 bedded hospitals, salary given to private nurses must be at par with salaries of State Government Nurses.
  1. In case of less than 100 bedded hospitals, salary given to private nurses should be 10% less than that of State Government Nurses.
  1. In case of 50-100 bedded hospitals, the salary must be 25% less than that of State Government Nurses.
  1. In case of 50 bedded hospitals, salary cannot be less than ?20,000/- pm.

 

The basic dignity that comes with every profession has often been denied to these nurses. Hence, the verdict also guarantees working conditions and benefits granted to state government nurses, to be implemented to private working nurses. Essential requirements like leaves, working hours, medical facilities, transportation, and even maternity leaves are denied.

We all know about justice delayed is justice denied, however in this case, the verdict came in 2016, and it is the end of 2019 now and that verdict hasn’t been implemented yet, their right to seek redressal has been blatantly ignored in broad day light. What’s worse is that the CM’s office and Delhi Government are still not listening to them and are not even ready for a dialogue.

The first medical personnel provided to the patients are nurses. If the country treats them like this, the future of healthcare remains uncertain.

Currently, in their generosity, they finish their shifts at these hospitals and then protest at Jantar Mantar to not jeopardise their patients. From 15th November, they have been on a hunger strike, after completing their hectic shifts. However, the situation has worsened so much that they are forced to resort to a full protest, leaving patients hanging at Jantar Mantar on 10th December.

A crisis that affects all of us hasn’t received single media coverage yet. Healthcare is the building block of our society, yet it is being treated in pure abeyance. More than that, what is being expected of these nurses is inhumane; dignity that comes with each profession is a constitutional right. While the mainstream media is more interested in covering communal politics, issue that directly affects our progression as a society doesn’t even surface.

 

Featured Image Credits: Newsd

 

Chhavi bahmba 

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DUB Speak

Sources to Tap: Water Quality in Delhi and India

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Looking at the water quality spat through a critical lens.

The quality of tap water was found to be the worst in the national capital. Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, on Saturday, released the much-awaited report of the study of samples of drinking water taken from 20 states across the country, including Delhi. However, Mumbai topped the ranking released by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for quality of tap water. Delhi finished at the bottom, with 11 out of 11 samples failing on 19 parameters out of 28.

Even as the political discourse on this matter bubbles and boils, a trade organisation of Reverse Osmosis (RO) purifier makers has knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court against a ban on the use of RO filters in several parts of Delhi. The Water Quality India Association has moved the Supreme Court against a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the use of RO filters in Delhi as they “unnecessarily result in rejecting 80 percent of potable water”. The NGT in its order on 20th May had directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to frame rules for manufacturing and sale of RO filters, and banned the use of RO in areas where the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water was already low.

City water systems are typically required to comply with the national standard for drinking water IS 10500:2012, but most obviously feel no compulsion in doing so. The lack of motivation, or initiative exhibited by them can be attributed to various factors such as the expanding reach of packaged drinking or mineral water in populous urban cities as well as the high dependence on groundwater, where the State provision of piped water systems does not exist. Moreover, most residents in urban areas do vastly rely on the water purification installation in their homes for this purpose.

On paper, the pipe water has to pass many tests such as absence of viruses, parasites, microscopic organisms and toxic substances. In practise, the lack of accountability of official agencies, lack of quality testing and the absence of legitimate data on the matter, have resulted in these specifications being far from realised.

Making it legally binding on agencies to achieve standards and empowering consumers with rights is the need of the hour, since this would not only address the issue of water quality in both urban and rural centres, it would also allow the State governments to look at four important health verticals – housing, water supply, sanitation and waste management, in a holistic manner.

Moreover, a scientific approach to water management is crucial keeping in mind that 21 cities of urban India – including many having unfit tap water – could run out of groundwater as early as 2020, as per a report by the NITI Aayog.

 

Featured Image Credits: Mir Suhail for News18

 

Bhavya Pandey 

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