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On 4 November 2023, Ramjas College students gathered to protest against the ad-hoc crisis in the college’s English department, expressing concern over the displacement of 8 out of 10 ad hoc professors. Their collective demand echoes a call for transparency, academic stability, and integrity within the educational framework.

In a resolute display of solidarity, students from Ramjas College’s English Department organised a gathering to protest against the displacement of 8/10 ad hoc professors of the department on Monday, 4 November, 2023. Gathering in the Eco Lawns of the college, the rally circled the campus, culminating in a demonstration at the Principal’s Office. The college administration responded by summoning police forces to contain the protest. The protest garnered support from students from various departments of Ramjas College and was endorsed by student organisations such as the Student Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students Association (AISA).

In a post shared by the Instagram handle Ramjas Reading Room, the protest called upon immediate action to address the following:

  1. Halt Unjust Displacements
  2. Preserve Academic Integrity
  3. Prioritize Faculty Well-Being

Vociferous slogans and heartfelt messages were raised during the protest as student were overcome with anger and anguish amid the state of things.  A student from Ramjas’ English Department, who wishes to stay anonymous, shared,

The English Department has been one of the most active departments in Ramjas. For most of these professors, teaching, while being a passion, is also a source of sustenance. They are still processing the grief of what has happened.

The protest is being held against the backdrop of the displacement of ad hoc professors from departments across colleges at Delhi University. In Ramjas College, the first department affected by this issue was the Zoology Department last year. Many have alleged that the process of interviewing, retention, and displacement of ad hoc professors is opaque, leading to highly qualified and experienced professors losing their jobs.

Utilising platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, students of Ramjas College effectively mobilised support by urging their peers and even past alumni who are working across the globe to join the cause. The protest featured images of these iconic figures, such as Tagore and Gandhi, and included books taught by the displaced teachers. The student political groups that had joined submitted a memorandum seeking transparency in the interview process and the retention of ad hoc professors.

According to our sources, the college has made no response to the students’ demands as of yet. Expressing their state of despair and hopelessness at the system, a final year student from the English Department, commented, 

We have lost that last sense of connection with the department. It has become a foreign space for us; the college is a necropolis. How will we ever go back to Room No. 12, the department room? The displaced professors have shared our paintings and poems on their Instagram posts and stories. But we only know what we have lost.

Read also: Faculty Displacement at IPCW: Impact on Students and Academic Integrity

Featured Image Credits:  Aaryan Marcha, student at Ramjas College

Injeella Himani
[email protected]

The alliance formed by the teachers’ associations aims at “reclaiming the DUTA from the cronies of the ruling dispensation and defend public higher education.”

10 Delhi University teachers’ organisations and 4 independent teachers have come together to form the Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance (D.U.T.A) to contest the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) 2023 polls. Ahead of the elections, which will witness over 10,000 academics of the University casting their votes to elect the leadership, the alliance has announced Dr. Aditya Narayan Misra as the joint candidate for the post of DUTA president. The teachers’ organisations have joined forces to challenge the BJP-RSS affiliated National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF) in the upcoming DUTA elections scheduled for September 27. The DUTA elections are expected to witness a tough contest between the D.U.T.A and the NDTF, which emerged victorious in 2021 after a 24-year hiatus. AK Bhagi was elected as the DUTA President, defeating his nearest contender, Abha Dev Habib by a margin of 1382 votes.

The Democratic United Teachers Alliance, formed with the aim of “defending public education by reclaiming DUTA”,  is a coalition of multiple groups including Congress’s Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC), AAP’s Academic for Action and Development Teachers Association (AADTA), the Left-leaning Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), and various independent teachers’ associations such as the Common Teachers’ Front (CTF), Delhi Teachers’ Initiative (DTI), Independent Teachers’ Front for Social Justice (ITF-SJ), and Samajwadi Shikshank Manch (SSM) and the Voice of DU Adhocs.

There is an immediate and serious need to reclaim the DUTA as a teachers’ collective that works in defence of public-funded education and rights of teachers and students in the forthcoming DUTA elections,” – the joint statement by D.U.T.A read.

At a press conference on August 25, held at the Press Club of India, Prof. Nandita Narain, former DUTA President said that the current NDTF leadership had turned the union office into a “department of the administration which slaughtered thousands of good teachers in the ongoing recruitment drive.” While the teachers’ movement in the country looked for guidance and inspiration from DUTA to reclaim the rights of the teachers, the alliance alleged that the DUTA leadership failed thousands of ad-hoc teachers in their quest for permanent jobs after decades of service.

We are here together to safeguard the dignity and security of all teachers. We are here to defend full public funding and build public opinion against the privatisation and other sinister designs of NEP, 2020. We are committed to absorption of all existing ad hoc and temporary teachers and reinstatement of those who have been displaced during the last two years, while protecting the services of those who have already secured permanent appointment.” – read a statement by the teachers’ alliance.

 The Academic Council of Delhi University, in its meeting held on 11.8.2023, reported a letter from the UGC granting approval to DU as a Category 1 – University under the Graded Autonomy Regulation. By permitting the University to function on a self-financing basis, the D.U.T.A alleges that the regulation would pave the way for commercialisation and deprive the University of necessary Government grants for teaching-learning and infrastructure.

Salaries, promotion, and pension will all have to be taken care of through self-financing. No expectations of funds can be kept from either the University Grants Commission or the Government. Will teachers be displaced? Are we handing over the entire University in private hands? Will the character of the University remain what it is?”- commented Prof Narain in the press conference on Friday.

 Prof. Narain, Convener of the Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance, stated that the policy-driven decline in the academic quality of public universities is best demonstrated by the new version of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP), which carries a plethora of anti-academic moves to undermine the integrity of various disciplines.

 The DUTA leadership has refrained from raising their voices about the degradation of academic quality due to the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. A number of academically vacuous courses have been introduced in the name of most Value Added Courses and Skill Enhancement Courses, which add neither to values nor skills, and leave students too exhausted to focus on the core academic disciplines. On the other hand, internal assessment has been increased from 25 to 45%, with a new component of continuous assessment. This, given the massive reduction in teaching-tutorial-practical time, is an academic fraud. None of these changes were brought after consultation with teachers.” – mentioned the statement released on August 25.

 The statement by D.U.T.A highlights the concern that self-financing by institutions will be undertaken by loans, which will be repaid through increasing student fees for “commercially viable courses” and discarding “uneconomic” ones.

Massive fee hikes will follow, exacerbating the exclusionary tendencies that have been already initiated by the CUET process. Even if the constitutionally mandated provision of reservation is retained (though it finds no mention in the NEP document), students belonging to deprived sections will be excluded through the back door of high fees.” – added the statement.

 Claiming this as “the death of higher education, DUTA joint candidate Dr. Aditya Narayan Misra, of the AAP-affiliated Academic for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association (AADTA), urged teachers to join hands and fight for the withdrawal of the National Education Policy,2020.

Despite our dissent, the fees for certain courses under the Law Faculty were approved at nearly Rs.12.5 lakhs, the same courses which were being taught at a fee of Rs 5000-7000. How is this “greater autonomy?”. This should not simply be a reporting item that is brought and told to us. The students’ future depends on it, and the teachers’ future depends on it- why are such decisions being imposed without due discussion? The DUTA has failed us. It is being used as an extension to privatise and commercialise higher education.” – remarked Misra, a three-time president of DUTA.

 Clause 19.2 on Graded Autonomy in the NEP 2020, which envisages that all public colleges and universities will become “independent, self-governing institutions” for the governance of which “a Board of Governors (BoG) shall be established consisting of a group of highly qualified, competent and dedicated individuals”, has also been opposed by the alliance. They fear that the BoGs will govern institutions without external interference and make decisions concerning the “incentive structure” unilaterally without reference to UGC regulations.

The Board of Governors will have the complete autonomy to establish new courses and curriculum and hire and fire as per will, with recruitment of contractual teachers and foreign faculty being given more importance. Post independence, we established institutions like the D-School, the IITs, the IIMs, and the English, Commerce and Sociology Departments – but we were always self-sufficient in devisiong and teaching our own curriculum. Why do we need foreign faculty now? They will display the foreign teachers for 4 months and use it as a tactic to raise fees. We are witnessing the biggest privatisation deal of India.” – said Misra, who has been teaching Political Science at DU since 1986.

Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) Secretary, Abha Dev Habib, remarked that the reluctance of the DU administration to form the governing bodies of colleges administered by the Delhi Government will formalise the dependence of public higher educational institutions on private corporates.

 DU authorities have packed the Academic Council (AC) subcommittee for academic affairs with NDTF members whose only role is to subvert statutory powers of Committees of Courses (CoCs), Departments and Faculties, and impose unacademic changes in syllabi in keeping with their agenda of saffronisation. The DTF teachers of DU have decided that public higher education cannot be redeemed if the current leadership is successful in its aim of converting the teachers’ collective into a patronage dispensing tool to further NEP through undemocratic demobilisation.” – remarked Habib.

Alleging that NDTF-led DUTA remained silent during the mass displacement of ad hoc teachers in the University, the alliance asserted that the teachers’ union’s claims that displaced teachers are being absorbed elsewhere are not supported by transparent data.

What is most reprehensible is that instead of taking up the cause of all teachers, the leadership has been selective and discriminate. It is the first time in the history of DUTA that a large number of teachers are afraid of displeasing their own elected representatives,” the statement added.

 The alliance claimed that the outgoing (present) DUTA committee has been hand-in- glove in furthering anti-academic and anti-teacher moves. It has also undermined the functioning of wider trade unions of teachers such as FEDCUTA that are fighting against privatisation and for the restoration of the old pension scheme.

 The D.U.T.A. is committed to ensuring absorption of all existing ad hoc and temporary teachers, reinstatement of those displaced in open positions, and protection of services of all permanent teachers, with counting of past services at all levels of promotion and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, and also for the protection of service conditions of Librarians and teachers of Physical Education. It will launch an effective struggle to strengthen public-funded education by demanding a rollback of NEP2020, Graded Autonomy and all such attempts to privatise our public universities.” – the statement by D.U.T.A concluded.

Prof. Abha Dev Habib said that this unprecedented unity of different groups comes in the light of the “gravest challenges confronting the teachers, students and non-teaching employees of DU”.

There has been mass displacement of serving temporary and ad hoc teachers with the active connivance of the NDTF leadership and especially in institutions helmed by those who are part of the ruling dispensation. The institutional murder of Samarveer was possibly the abysmal low to which the state of affairs in DU have descended.”, Habib, a Professor of Physics at Miranda House, commented.

 The statement by the alliance claimed that 80% of serving ad hoc teachers have been displaced in the interviews held recently, most of them in colleges headed by the Principals close to the ruling dispensation.

 I have been part of Delhi University all my life. I have been an ad-hoc teacher and was thrown out so I understand how it feels. I can connect to the pain of the people who have been ousted. Regularisation of ad-hoc teachers would be one of our main agendas.” – mentioned Misra, a professor at Dyal Singh College.

 On Friday, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi expressed displeasure over the non-release of Rs.100 crore to Delhi Government’s 12 fully-funded DU colleges after a representation was submitted by Dr.Aditya Narain Misra and DU Executive Council (EC) members Seema Das and Rajpal Singh appraising her of the delay.

 On 28th June 2023, I approved the release of Rs 100 crore as the second quarterly grant was announced. But this fund has not reached colleges yet despite one and a half months having lapsed. The faculty and the ministerial staff of these colleges cannot suffer due to administrative technicalities and the finance department should have a facilitatory approach over these financial issues. Hence, the funds should be released without any further delay.”- Atishi said in an official statement.

 

 D.U.T.A Press Conference held on August 25 – D.U.T.A. Press Conference, Save Public Funded Education

 Featured Image Credits: India Today

 Read also: After a Three-Year Hiatus, Delhi University Students’ Union Elections Are Back – DU Beat – Delhi University’s Independent Student Newspaper

 

Manvi Goel

[email protected]

On Monday, May 1, the Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC) condemned the displacement of ad hoc teachers of Delhi University. Additionally, it demanded that there be no further displacements. In colleges of the University, where officiating principals are present, the forum demanded that selection interviews be undertaken immediately.

According to sources, around 75% of Ad Hoc faculty were left jobless despite having worked in colleges of the University for decades. In a statement issued by INTEC, chairman Pankaj Garg reportedly spoke about the lack of transparency in interviews for permanent positions at the University.

From the very beginning, the teacher selection process in various constituent colleges had become a mockery. Interviews were taken for two to three minutes and selections were made, which reflected nepotism and favouritism.

-Dr. Pankaj Garg, chairman of INTEC

Teachers who have already been displaced have claimed that the recruitment procedure and University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines prioritise the interview over teaching experience or prior research.

“When a long-serving ad hoc teacher, after displacement, goes to another college for interviews, they are humiliated by asking the reason behind them not being selected in the college they were working in. Ad hoc teachers working in colleges where officiating principals are present are feeling insecure as there has been no initiative of conducting interviews in their colleges so far.” Garg, also a mathematics teacher at Rajdhani College, DU.

The forum also asked for the posting of advertising of job openings for teachers in the 12 DU colleges that receive funding from the Delhi government. These include Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, and Maharaja Agrasen College among others.

 

“The executive council had said that the interview process in colleges where officiating principals are present should also begin. It is under process and scrutiny of applications is on. As for the 12 colleges that are funded by the Delhi government, we are awaiting the list of members for the governing body and hence, we have not been able to begin the process in those colleges.”

 Prof.Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor of DU.

The unfortunate reported suicide of the late Mr. Samarveer Singh has brought back attention to the ad hoc displacement crisis, which started in September 2022. Mr. Singh was fired, after more than five years of service as an assistant professor of philosophy at Hindu College, amidst the ongoing interview process for permanent positions. Teachers and students have expressed their outrage at the situation and continue to demand justice.

Read also: DU Teachers Stage Protest for Absorption of Ad-Hoc Teachers – DU Beat – Delhi University’s Independent Student Newspaper

 

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Manvi Goel

[email protected]

Ministry of Human Resource Department (MHRD) Secretary,  Amit Khare addressed issues of ad-hoc teachers and filling up of scores of vacant positions in his inauguration speech at  Shivaji College, University of Delhi (DU). 

 

Shivaji College witnessed Mr Amit Khare,  Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) during the inauguration of the New Wing of the college. Khare’s inauguration speech mentioned the importance of teachers,  asserting that teachers are the backbone of any education system and while working for quality education the challenges faced by the teaching community need to be resolved as well. He stated that detailed discussions were held with Yogesh  Tyagi, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University to take steps for filling the vacant faculty positions and for promotion of teachers.

 

 The MHRD has asked the Varsity to resolve the problems faced by ad-hoc teachers and also fill up the scores of vacant positions that lie unfilled. The issue has been a  cause of concern to many after the controversial letter dated 28th August 2019 came into existence which involved the appointment of ad-hoc and guest lecturers. DU teachers have demanded one-time regulation for the absorption of ad-hoc teachers. 

 

“Our ad-hocs have been pestered by such actions. One of our ad-hocs once advised us not to go into their line of career during our tutorials, this shows the frustration that has risen.  A university of such a high accord is expected to be sensitive to the needs of people involved in the structure. The speech by Amit Khare gives some hope.”, says a student from Lady Shri Ram College for Women who wished to remain anonymous.

 

The transformation of Khare’s words into concrete actions are awaited. 

 

Feature Image Credits: Press Information Bureau

 

Priyanshi  Banerjee [email protected]

On 10th January 2020, University of Delhi (DU) teachers marched from Mandi House to the Parliament Street demanding absorption of all teachers, promotion and pension among other issues. Following them Courting-Arrest, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) office bearers were invited to meet the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Secretary, UGC Chairperson and Jt. Secretary, MHRD at the Ministry.

Releasing a Press Release, DUTA Office Bearers expressed their discontentment with MHRD’s failure in the implementation of the 5 December Record of Discussions in entirety. The officials have expressed their commitment to implement the same. In this context, DUTA representatives pointed out the inaction on the Vice Chancellor (VC)’s part in implementing the 5th December Record of Discussions with respect to releasing option forms and initiating the promotion process. They also pointed out the non-implementation of the proposed relief on screening criteria and counting of past services.

The release of additional Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) expansions on student-teacher ratio along with University’s (in)action to ensure that no ad hoc is displaced due to the EWS reservation until permanent appointments are made; were also raised.

Dr Agnitra Ghosh, Professor, Kamla Nehru College, Member of DUTA, told DU Beat, “The ruling regime is hell bent on pushing more and more policies of contractualization to destroy public universities. And the DUTA and faculty members of DU are fighting against that. The entire system of ad hocism has created a situation of employment without any security and dignity. Now, the admin further wanted to downgrade ad hoc position to guest, which was resisted. For the last 10 years, DU faculty members have been denied promotions. A university can’t run in this way without basic minimum facilities provided to it’s faculty members. But DU teachers are consistently fighting back and we have also received overwhelming solidarity from the student community of DU.”

With regard to the association’s key demand, one-time absorption of temporary ad-hoc teachers, MHRD stated that only Governemt should take a decision on the same. DUTA expressed their disapproval and sought justness of the fact that several thousand young teachers have been languishing for long years without permanent jobs.

Discussing over the release of the corrected concordance tables for revision of pensions, DUTA officials were informed that the matter was presented before the Finance Ministry. Demand for the withdrawal of the letter dated 21.04.2019 to the University by MHRD was also raised, for which they were asked to pursue the matter with the Finance Ministry.

Apart from this, DUTA submitted a memorandum stating the other long-standing demand of teachers, the resolution of the UGC Regulations 2018, which has a direct bearing on the pending promotions. DUTA officials also expressed their opposition to the Draft New Education Policy 2019’s anti-education recommendations, uniting against the corporatisation of higher education. DUTA reiterated their demand for the VC’s resignation.

Since 4th December 2019, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has been on an indefinite strike and a 24-hour indefinite dharna outside the Vice Chancellor’s Office seeking absorption, promotion and pension for ad hocs and temporary staff.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Anandi Sen
[email protected]

DUTA protesters burned an effigy of Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi as the strike against the New Education Policy enters its 36th day. 

On 8th January 2020, hundreds of protesters gathered despite the harsh and severe climate to protest against the lack of action being taken by the University of Delhi and its Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi. The gathering was called by Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) against the inaction being taken regarding their demands of permanent absorption and time-bound promotions of the university’s teachers. The gathering burnt an effigy to show their vexation over his neglect and reiterate his removal.

DUTA  has been on strike since last month in demand of one-time regulation for the absorption of ad-hoc and temporary teachers, with the continuance of the indefinite strike with the boycott of invigilation, evaluation and all other official duties to press for their demand. In a press release, DUTA stated that the working conditions of DU teachers have continued to worsen in comparison to all other universities. They claim that without direct intervention from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), it will be impossible to retain the academic talent that continues to contribute to DU’s position as a premier central university,” and insists that the only alternative for ending the strike is complete acceptance and implementation by the DU administration of all the points of agreement reached with the DUTA and articulated in its summary note of discussion released on 6 December 2019.

In the press release, DUTA president Rajib Ray stated, “The plight of ad-hoc and temporary teachers in DU is characterised by despair. DUTA reiterates that the only just solution to prolonged ad-hoc in DU (for which the current VC and his officials are responsible in a big way) is Permanent Absorption. The DUTA is dismayed that despite a detailed White Paper arguing the case for the VC’s removal, the MHRD and UGC has been dragging its feet and allowing him to continue his anti-teacher and inactive mode of administration.

The DUTA will mobilise the teachers and students in the coming days for massive action programmes unless its agreement with the MHRD and UGC is implemented immediately and decisive action is taken against the DU Vice-Chancellor.”

The teachers of the University of Delhi have been on strike since 6th December.

 

Feature Image Credit: DU Beat Archives

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

A common point on the agenda of every political party is women’s safety. Candidates promise to make the campus a safer space for women with the use of surveillance and police presence everywhere. But the question that looms in the air is where consent is during the elections.

As the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections inch closer, the University of Delhi (DU) experiences hooliganism at its best. Keeping aside the forgeries, muscle power, and the waste of paper, the elections also turn into a breeding ground for harassment and violation of personal space. It starts with the handing out of pamphlets and flyers at the metro station. Party members, associates, and strangers get in the way to hand out pamphlets and cards while whispering the classic ‘please vote and support’ in the ear. This violation of personal boundaries continues in the e-rickshaw and till the college gates where a line of supporters stand to greet the students, ask to vote for certain candidates, and force students to memorise their ballot numbers.

“As I enter college, people in line ask me to vote for certain candidates and repeat their names and ballot numbers and promise that I’ll vote for them,” says Chhavi, a first-year student at Sri Venkateswara College. A student, who requested to stay anonymous, shared, “I was on my way to the metro station from college, and three men on a bike followed me till the gate while shouting the name of a candidate.” A second-year student from Ramjas College also added, “As I was entering college, men in white shirts were trying to hand pamphlets to students forcefully. I avoided their gaze and continued walking but a car from the parking lot came in front of me. Though the car was metres away, one of the men jumped in front of me, held both of my hands and said in a meeting tone, ‘Sambhal ke chalo yaar, gaadi ag jati’(Be careful while you walk, you could have hurt yourself).”

The harassment continues in so many more ways. From shaking one’s hand forcibly or sending unnecessary Facebook friend requests, to Instagram photos no one gave consent for or getting student’s numbers from the admission form to ask “if they need any help”. As a matter of fact, no one does. They just need you to respect their space.The understanding of consent, boundaries, and harassment lie unclear in the minds of election campaigners and candidates. Even if they do understand, they choose to ignore it.

Pooja Thakur, Professor at the Department of History, Ramjas College, says, “Instead of running a campaign on taking up issues most pertinent to the students and upholding democratic functioning and gender parity and treating the posts they stand for as positions of responsibility and not of power, they end up doing the very opposite. Within the colleges they end up disturbing classes with the beating of drums, loud sloganeering and bursting of crackers. Apart from this, they use tactics as is used in any mainstream political campaigns by distributing freebies to organising informal freshers parties. They also use tactics like confiscation of the students ID cards which is only given to them on the day of voting wherein they are pressurised into voting for their candidates.”

The University is meant to be a place where ideas and dissent run free, where students can finally have the safe space they deserve. Instead, seeds of hooliganism, fear, and censorship lie in its lap. As time passes, more allegations of harassment surface; it makes one wonder, is the University of Delhi turning into space where identities are punished for who they are? Amidst all election manifestos, we are yet to see any points about the queer community or the Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi community. Climate change is another issue the parties continue to sleep on. The still silence on issues of inclusivity and harassment serves as a reminder of our privileges.

Image Credits : Jaishree Kumar for Du Beat.

Jaishree Kumar

[email protected]

The conference registered the presence of a string of politicians and speakers from CPI-M, AAP, RJD and Congress party, each unequivocally calling out the UGC roster for its “unconstitutional nature”.

The Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) today held a press conference at the Press Club of India, Raisina Road. The occasion saw DUTA gain the support of the major political parties in its on-going movement against the 5th March University Grants Commission  (UGC) roster which potentially curtails the reservation in the appointment of teachers.

Rajib Ray, President of DUTA, began the conference by highlighting the implications of the 5th March 2018 UGC notification regarding Reservation Roster for SC, ST, OBC category in teaching posts in universities and colleges across the nation, which directs institutions to make the roster treating a Department as a unit in place of the UGC guidelines of 2006 which considered College/University as a unit. He further spoke over how the latest provision could only lead to delays in fulfillment of required seats, hence pushing a large number of teachers from the SC, ST, and OBC background out from university spaces and putting the future of ad-hoc teachers at jeopardy.

Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat
Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Among the political figures present were Sitaram Yechury, secretary general of the Communist Party of India, Manoj Jha, Member of Parliament, RJD, Amarjeet Kaur, Udit Raj, and Dev Rajan. The politicians of all the parties overtly blamed the government for systematically scaling down the constitutional values in the academic administration and called for the roster development to be seen in the backdrop of a larger national narrative. They also asked the government to restore the status quo till the Supreme Court comes with a decision over the Special Leave Petition ( SLP).

In addition to these major actors, sources later claimed that DUTA resistance has also found support from Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and, interestingly, Anusuchit Jaati Morcha of BJP.

However, questions regarding the evaluation boycott were strategically dodged, keeping the final year students and their higher education application prospects at loss. On being asked about the same, a Professor/Member of DUTA told our correspondent, “ The ball is in the government’s court. Rather than questioning the morality of the teachers, the government and the association should engage in a positive dialogue and resolve the deadlock, for everyone’s sake.”

Interestingly members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a peaceful sit-in and handed out roses to the teachers, requesting them to begin the evaluation.

 

Feature Image by P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]

13 Ad hoc teachers were given termination letters in the middle of the semester in Miranda House on August 29, 2016. The move is being described as an ‘administrative lapse’ by the Principal and has been strongly opposed by the Miranda House Staff Association (MHSA) on the grounds that the teachers were appointed according to the latest ordinances issued by the University and in line with the requirements for the CBCS course framework. DUTA and MHSA held a joint press conference on September 5, 2016 to throw more light on the issue and to convey their strong protest against the sudden, arbitrary retrenchment.

What happened?

On August 23, the MHSA was informed of the college’s decision to terminate the contracts of 13 Ad hoc teachers across different departments. The move came after an ‘administrative lapse’ was discovered in exceeding the number of teachers that could be hired beyond a second tranche cap. The college had hired 210 teachers but had a cap of 194, making the terminated Ad hocs ‘surpluses’. The departments were asked to make changes to their previously approved workloads in order to terminate the required number of Ad hocs. The changes would have led to an increase in the workloads of all the professors, against the UGC workload norms, and an increase in the size of tutorials, against the CBCS requirements. Many departments refused to make these changes. The matter was also brought up with the Delhi University Teachers Association because of the grave injustice of the move being suggested. A DUTA team met the Principal, Dr. Pratibha Jolly, on August 26, 2016, and requested her to hold a Governing Body meeting before taking any decision. The matter wasn’t brought up with the University, despite Miranda House being a University-maintained and UGC funded college, neither was a Governing Body meeting called before 13 Ad hoc teachers were handed over termination letters on August 29, 2016 in the Principal’s absence, who left the country one day prior to this and hasn’t been available in college since then. A Delhi University official, on the condition of anonymity, told the Times of India that no one in the University knew about the situation till they read reports about it in the media. The one-line termination letter offered no reason for the termination and came out of the blue for 13 teachers who had already been teaching in Miranda House for over a month, if not more. The affected teachers were neither given any notice prior to the letter, nor any compensation, monetary or otherwise, of any sort. The move has also disturbed the reservation roster of the college, which needs to be according to the specific reservation requirements per category.

The larger issues at hand:

While the issue of the lives of 13 teachers being toyed with is already grave enough, it has even more implications if we consider the bigger issues that manifested themselves in Miranda House, and how they are going to end up affecting all colleges sooner or later. There is a discrepancy in the cap that colleges are expected to follow according to a 2004 UGC workload guideline and the requirement of teachers according to 2013 university ordinances and the CBCS requirements. The former allows Miranda House to have just 194 teachers whereas according to the latter, the requirement is of 210 teachers. Having followed the CBCS requirements, Miranda House found itself crossing the second tranche cap and decided to terminate 13 Ad hoc contracts, not having hired 3 of the 16 positions they had to fill. In other colleges, the situation has manifested itself in a different way – the required numbers of teachers aren’t hired in the first place and the employed professors are being overworked beyond the workload guidelines. It needs to be realised that stretching the existing number of teachers thin is not just flouting guidelines but also affecting their quality of work and the education being imparted in some of the top colleges of the country. It also has implications for the credits that students under CBCS are supposed to receive. Under CBCS, an hour of class counts for a credit and there are strict tutorial size requirements as well. With the academic life of the college being disrupted in the middle of the semester, and classes still untaught despite nearly a month and a half of classes, the current situation needs to be understood as a crisis in need of immediate attention.

What now?

The MHSA and DUTA are calling for the Governing Body to intervene and hold an emergency meeting to resolve the issue to protect the unfairly terminated teachers. They are asking for all 13 teachers to be reinstated by the college administration. The MHRD also wrote to the college, demanding an explanation for the sudden retrenchment of the teachers and how the college planned to continue regular classes. The college replied that it was going to call a Governing Body meeting soon and is trying to look for a solution. Meanwhile, the 13 Ad hoc teachers remain vulnerable, their classes untaught and the Principal still unavailable. DU Beat met two of the 13 affected teachers during the Press Conference to ask what they were planning to do about the issue at their own level. The teachers, for the time being, have put their trust in the MHSA and DUTA to protest on their behalf and protect their interests. The situation in Miranda House has exposed several issues in the functioning of the University, and the general attitude towards Ad hoc teachers,who are often treated as second-class citizens in their own workplaces and are overworked and undercompensated. DU Beat stands in solidarity with the MHSA, DUTA, and the Ad hoc teachers’ community of Delhi University. Feature image: Daily Mail Shubham Kaushik [email protected]  ]]>