The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) organised a ‘University Bachao Rally’ on Friday.

The teachers marched from Mandi House to Parliament Street against the alleged commercialisation of education in the central university.

The rally was organised to raise voice against the implementation of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, Essential Services Maintenance Act, Tripartite MoU and freeze on recruitment process. The DUTA stated that the steps are anti-teacher and anti-student, and will eventually undermine free thinking on campus.

“Recent attempts by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to impose CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964, on central university teachers and ESMA, 1968, on Delhi University teachers is a blatant attempt to crush voices of dissent in the teaching community and facilitate the signing of the Tripartite MoU. The CCS (Conduct) Rules lays down stringent punishments for teachers who write anything critical against the government in any public forum,” said DUTA president Rajib Ray.

“The University Grants Commission has also set up a working group on October 4, 2018, to study the Delhi University Act with the perspective of ‘relevance and uniformity in today’s context’, including bringing exam/teaching/learning/evaluation under ESMA,” said Mr. Ray.

The protesters claimed that the Centre is using these ‘tools’ to “silence dissenting voices of teachers that will in turn harm the intellectual growth of the university students, as critical thinking and varied opinions are being oppressed”.