The High Court on Monday said that teachers cannot be allowed to suffer in the blame game between the city government and Delhi University colleges while hearing a plea challenging the decision to pay pending salaries to employees from the Student Society Fund (SSF).
The court observed that DU is the guardian of all its colleges and there is some responsibility of the university to put things in order. It asked for all the colleges to be made a party in the case while posting the case for hearing on November 5.
The Delhi government’s counsel informed the High Court that a Coordinate Bench of the court, on October 23, had stayed the decision asking 12 DU colleges to pay outstanding salaries to staffers from the students’ fund.
DU Students’ Union (DUSU), in its plea, challenged the October 16 order of the Delhi government asking the 12 colleges, which are fully funded by the State, to pay the salaries of over 1,500 employees – both teaching and non-teaching – from the students’ fund.
DU’s counsel said the university is supporting the students’ petition and added that the students’ fund cannot be used for paying teachers’ salaries and it will amount to cheating the students.
College employees have not been paid for the last three months.
DUSU, in its plea, said that as per UGC guidelines, only 11 heads can be included as income and 34 heads for expenditure.
It added that for paying the salaries only those heads which are under “income head” can be used for paying salaries.
This does not include the funds collected by students under the societies head or any amount kept in that corpus fund with regard to the SSF can be utilised for this purpose, the plea said.
