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Most ad hoc teachers are losing employment in the new session: DUTA

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On Wednesday, 17th July 2013, the Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) held a dharna outside Vice Chancellor Dinesh Kumar’s office or the Vice Regal Lodge. Believing that the University’s Ad hoc teachers have been discriminated against at several occasions during the previous academic session, DUTA staged this dharna to demand for better working conditions and higher recruitment rates for ad hoc and temporary teachers in the next session, which is to start exactly a week after the protest was held.

The idea behind this demonstation was to ensure some basic labour benefits for ad hoc teachers – like medical leave, maternity leave, vacation salaries, and transitions to permanent teaching appointments. While many believe it to be astonishing that these very basic working conditions aren’t provided to a substantial part of the University’s teaching workforce, the Vice Chancellor’s office did not seem disrupted at all by the strike. No official from the University addressed the gathering, or even made an appearance. After the protest, a few of DUTA’s members compiled all their demands into a memorandum and submitted it at the VC’s office.

DUTA

‘’No permanent teachers’ appointment has been made during the present Vice chancellor’s tenure. Most ad hoc teachers are losing employment in the new session. Despite the dharna and the memorandum, the VC’s office has not yet responded to any of our demands. We have also staged protests outside Shyam Lal College, whose administration has decided not to retain ad hoc teachers for the new session. Other colleges making similar calls – like Ramjas and PG DAV will also see demonstrations soon’’ said DUTA Vice President Harish Khanna.

The Academics for Action and Development (AAD) – a teacher’s group with similar demands as that of the DUTA staged their protest the next day outside the Vice Chancellor’s office. For the AAD, the main concerns leading to the demonstration was that teachers who have taught in the previous semester may not be retained and ad hoc experience may hold no value during interviews for permanent lectureship.

The University has promised the AAD that deliberations over service conditions of permanent teachers is about to reach a conclusion soon, and as soon as the committee in charge of the same submits its report, the University will begin advertising for positions of permanent appointments. While a similar assurances were made in October last year and at the end of this June, the AAD is expecting a finalization by next month.

Image Credit: Jayati Bhola

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RLA professor evicted

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The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA)  is stunned by a ruthless move of the Delhi University Administration to evict one of its teachers suffering from severe orthopaedic disability, from the University accommodation that had earlier been provided to him in view of his disability. Wheelchair- bound G N Saibaba is an assistant Professor of English at Ram Lal Anand College, and has 90 per cent disability due to polio.

Saibaba and his family has been staying at DU’s Gwyer Hall Hostel for the last five years, where he was temporarily accommodated by the then VC Deepak Pental with a promise of a permanent accommodation in the future, which the university failed to deliver. Saibaba was informed by the Estate Officer vide orders dated December 21 and 26, 2012 that the eviction proceedings against him have been initiated under Section 4 of the Public Premises (EUO) Act, 1971.

In a subsequent meeting, where Saibaba called for a personal hearing with the said officer on January 7, 2013, he was told that the proceedings have been completed and that he would be evicted. Saibaba was further served with notices asking him to vacate his premises within two weeks, failing which they shall force him out onto the streets. Finding it harsh to expect him to vacate the said premises without arranging for an alternative accommodation with wheelchair access for him, DUTA has sent a letter to the VC to have a more humane approach to Dr. Saibaba’s situation.

“DUTA showed strong resistance to this hard-hearted and irresponsible gesture of the University administration and insisted that it is obliged to provide Dr. Saibaba with suitable accommodation to ensure that his dignity and sense of security are not compromised. Till such an alternate accommodation is not provided, the DUTA stands by Dr. Saibaba and appeals that he be not forcefully removed from his present place of stay,“ said  Amar Deo Sharma, president of DUTA.

This exposes the hollowness of the DU administration’s tall claims that it is sensitive to thespecial requirements of its differently-abled teachers and students on the campus. Indeed,for a long time hundreds of disabled teachers and students have been agitating for theirrights to an accessible campus, study material and residential accommodation, which remainunfulfilled to this day.

The teachers of Delhi University demand that instead of taking a narrow and high handed approach, the University administration must channelize its efforts towards finding a suitable residential accommodation, and allow Dr. G. N. Saibaba to live in his present residence till that time.

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Campus Central

VC's First Durbar Evokes Mixed Response

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Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system. Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor hai, hai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar. The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly. Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later. VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed. However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”. Image source: The Hindu Sakshi Gupta [email protected]]]>

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Campus Central

VC’s First Durbar Evokes Mixed Response

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Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system.

Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy

Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor hai, hai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar.

The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly.

Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later.

VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed.

However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”.

Image source: The Hindu

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected]

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Campus Central

VC cuts off power supply during film screening, DUTA protests

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Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) along with the support of some students, decided to screen ‘The Great Dictator’, a Charlie Chaplin movie, on 9th November. This movie was being aired outside the Vice Chancellor’s office as a satire on Delhi University and it was to be followed by a debate on the current situation. However, within the first five minutes the power supply was cut off on the VC’s order. When the protestors tried finding an alternate source of power, this was also disrupted immediately as the power supply for the entire block outside the VC’s office and DUTA’s protest area was disconnected.

The actions of the VC led to nearly 25 students and the DUTA sleeping outside the VC Dinesh Singh’s office to show their anger and resentment for not being allowed to watch the Charlie Chaplin movie. Angry slogans were chanted outside his house, yet he didn’t appear to address the party gathered outside. Around 12:30 pm the next day, students and teachers held a meeting where they demanded a public apology from the VC.

In response to the protest, the registrar of Delhi University released a statement on Saturday, 10th of November, stating that the University regretted the complete disregard of the students and teachers who directly tapped power from exposed high-tension wires for screening their movie when the power supply was cut off initially. The statement also mentioned the fact that legal action will be taken against the offenders if such action continues. However, none of these threats seem to deter the determined DUTA and its student supporters as they promise to continue protesting until their issues are addressed.  

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DUTA Strikes and Burns Effigy of VC

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The teachers, students and karamcharis have not yet given up against the alleged “Unprecedented assault on democratic rights” by the DU’s VC. Wednesday, 31st October 2012, DUTA (Delhi University Teachers Union), backed up by DUSU (Delhi University Students Union) and DUCKU (Delhi University College Karamchari Union) burned the effigy of the Vice- chancellor outside his office at around 3:30 pm.  The DUTA has been on a relay hunger strike since the 10th of October demanding from the vice chancellor answers to their various grievances concerning arbitrary imposition of “academic reforms”, withdrawal of the right to revaluation, violation of anonymity of exams, delay in declaring exam results so on and so forth.

Around hundreds of students, teachers and non-teaching staff gathered to witness and participate in the protest. The administration tried its best to dissolve the crowd and curb the burning process by instructing the university’s security personnel to steal away the effigy, but the DUTA continued anyway. The security breached the law in front of the ineffective and mute police force by trying to take away the head and other parts of the effigy. The crowd arranged another effigy and burned newspaper in the meantime.

“It was a complete chaos, with officials trying to crush the protest and crowd not budging from the venue. It is quite shocking that the police were just standing there, doing absolutely nothing!” said Vidushi a student. “We have no idea what is going on in the university, even the teachers are at loss. There are new academic changes with every passing day!” adds another.

Teachers said that the authorities are now spreading rumors that the DUSU and DUCKU have withdrawn their support from the movement. “This is shameful. This is for the first time that DUSU, DUCKU and DUTA have come together. We have letters from these unions citing their support,” said a DUTA member.

 

Aishwarya Chaurasia
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Caught in a cobweb: DUTA strikes

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Emerging from what has transformed into a completely bitter symphony, the on-going tangles of discontentment have brewed into a series of brawls between the DUTA members and the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. The coercive governance by the authorities and the non-receptiveness of any dialogue with the teachers pertaining to the up surging issues, followed by insinuating the teacher’s association as ‘illegal’ has sprung up a steamy situation for every stakeholder of this renowned university.

On Wednesday the hunger strike by DUTA members marked the tenth day of protest, channelizing a way for the emergence of yet another agenda for Thursday, 18th October.  On the aforementioned date the members of DUTA marched barefoot around the campus of the university to ascertain the Right to Education to the economically weaker sections of the society, in the arrears of massive privatization and commercialization. The motive of the protest was also a well sunken thought to stir a voice of justice for the girl who was molested during the DUSU elections earlier. An air of pitiful disgrace was expressed with respect to banning democratic protests in the campus post the incident. The strike seems to evolve due to a multitude of driving factors arising due to the haphazard manner in which the university is dealing with semesterization. In the ambit of unilateral decision making, the authorities have completely shunned out on any influential contribution by the teachers who are intricate brunt bearers and facilitators of the semester system. The threat of pay cuts in case of any demonstrations has also leapt as a severe bone of contention. There are several questions being posed on the claimed acceleration of the standard of the university which has duly failed in providing and enabling the mere necessities of a conducive environment for accessing education.

The acceptance and enhancement of semester system as another rung in the towering ladder of a ‘glistening’ education in this country continues to be a contentious argument, one year after its implementation. Students have queued up their dismal grievances to unflattering redressal, corresponding to which they extended their support and accompanied the teachers through the days of the strike. In the domain of responsible demonstrations, the teachers have ensured regular classes and have prudently conducted these strikes for a cause. Deliberation and enactment can only condense the appalling situation of the largest democracy’s top ranked university, where the essence of an ironic situation seems to persist.

 

Image source: The Hindu 

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DUTA on Indefinite Relay Hunger Strike

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After making umpteen appeals to the VC, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has decided to up the ante. The association has been sitting on an indefinite relay hunger strike from 10th of October against the way decisions were being made in the varsity.

Twenty-three teachers from Ramjas College, Daulat Ram College, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce and Deen Dyal Upadhyay College and eminent DUTA executive members – DUTA secretary S. D. Siddiqui, former DUTA president Aditya Narayan Misra and Academic Council members A.K. Bhagi and M.R. Chikkara were the prime participants on first day of the strike.

“Teachers are increasingly being thrown out of decision making and the VC has shown utter disregard to the teachers’ democratic body,” said DUTA Executive member Abha Dev Habib.

DUTA is against Vice Chancellor for his contemptuous ignore of the teacher’s association and destroying the entire academic fabric by announcing new courses and academic programmes through media and running the University as his personal fiefdom.

“VC has browbeaten the entire university fraternity to accept his fanciful decisions. The drastic changes in examination and evaluation of answer-scripts, yet again announced to the media without any discussion in the Academic Council, may justifiably seem insane to the public at large but they also serve to aptly illustrate his egoism and the utterly deluded and directionless nature of his reforms,’ said one of the DUTA members.

In spite of the strike classes were not called off and teacher’s taught by taking leave for some time to take their classes.  Last time VC ordered principals of colleges to deduct salaries of those teachers who participated in the strike on 28 August.

DUTA is also planning a candle-light vigil on Friday night to further their cause. The candle-light vigil is for the 4,000 teachers who have been condemned to continue teaching in ad-hoc capacity despite being eligible.

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected]

Image source: The Hindu 

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Campus Central

DUTA takes a dig at Vice Chancellor while meeting the President

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A deputation comprising of all the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) office bearers met the President of India, Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee, on September 21 to inform him of the widespread administrative vacuum and sedition of the varsity’s autonomy affected by the dysfunctional and autocratic Vice Chancellor of the University from the time he took over in November 2010.

In it’s press release for the same, DUTA has stated that the lapses on the VC’s part includes ‘series of violations of the University Act, its Statutes and Ordinances, the brazen misuse of Emergency Powers to bring in courses and start new Centers like the Cluster Innovation Center, the manner in which he has forced the AC to pass plagiarized courses under the B. Tech in Innovation programme, as well as his culpability and lack of accountability in the widely reported ‘Marks Scam’ in the first semester results’. This all, they alleged, have led to the embarrasment and dishonor of the Unversity.

Moreover, the delegation reportedly acquainted the President about the apparent impunity with which the ‘Vice Chancellor has attempted to stonewall any possibility of dialogue with the democratic organs of the University’. They especially drew attention to the fact that despite DUTA constantly raising the issues of four thousand teaching vacancies in the University, the constitutional need to immediately implement the UGC’s Reservation Policy of 2006 and start the process of long-due promotions at the earliest, Dinesh Singh responded with hostility and never made an endeavour to meet the DUTA. They also alleged him of ‘making slanderous remarks against DUTA and threatening teachers against participating in the activities of their Association’.

Apparently, the members also claimed that Singh also tried using ‘cheap and cowardly tactic’ in the sense that he tried putting pressure on the Principals of SRCC and Ramjas College in order to deny their organization a space to conduct its annual general body meeting on September 22. However, according to the them, the tactic was finally withdrawn as he realized that the President had agreed to meet the DUTA.

Urging the President to intervene, the delegation expressed its concern that ‘if the VC is allowed to carry on functioning in the present manner, he will push the University towards a catastrophe’. Reportedly, the President has promised that he will ensure the answerability of the VC, and the restoration of administrative delivery and the University’s prestige to the satisfaction of the teachers.

 

Vatsal Verma
[email protected] 

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Biometric Attendence for Teachers Quite a Possibility

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Last month, the court had issued a notice to DU authorities after a PIL was filed by the Indian Council of Legal Aid and Advice, seeking to introduce a biometric system to register the attendance of lecturers and other teaching staff of the university. The PIL said that the attendance system should be introduced to ensure that a teacher “adheres to the teaching hours and days prescribed by the UGC and the university rules”. As per the UGC norms, the workload of teachers should not be less than 40 hours a week for 180 teaching days, apart from being available for at least five hours daily in the college. The working hours actually put in by a lecturer in Delhi University daily are just about three and half hours per day currently.

The affidavit filed by the registrar said: “The University of Delhi is committed to adopt and implement measures which are favourable and beneficial to the university system as a whole, such as the biometric system of attendance for its teachers in order to ensure their presence in colleges and ensure the participation of all teachers in the teaching/learning process.” Emphasising on the perquisites of teachers the affidavit read, “The teachers after the implementation of sixth pay commission have lucrative pay packets and are expected to fully justify the trust and confidence reposed by the society on them by working tirelessly for the betterment of the taught so as to prepare them for facing the challenges of life with confidence and knowledge.” The plea also stated that it seemed that the university was not implementing the biometric system under pressure from teachers’ unions. The university had tried to introduce the system in 2009, but had to hastily withdraw the order after Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) went on strike in protest.

This time around however, Delhi University has assured the Delhi High Court that it would adopt and implement the biometric attendance system for teachers to ensure punctuality. Following the assurance, the court disposed of the plea saying, “On the assurance given by the university, the court hopes and expects that biometric system of attendance would be introduced expeditiously.” The teachers are not expected to stall the move, which is aimed at uplifting the standards of teaching facilities.

 

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected] 

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