Delhi University teachers have protested over the issue multiple times in the past. (File Photo) Six members of the Rajya Sabha from various Opposition parties have written to the President seeking his intervention in the appointment of around 4,500 ad-hoc teachers of Delhi University (DU).
The Parliamentarians —V Sivadasan from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Manoj Kumar Jha from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Binoy Viswam from the Communist Party of India, P Wilson from DMK, Choudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party, and Syed Nasir Hussain from the Congress — said in their letter to President Ramnath Kovind on March 28: “We write to you to voice the concern of more than 4,500 teachers of Delhi University who are affected by the abnormal situation, wherein appointments have not taken place for nearly a decade. We also support the need for a One-time Regulation for the Absorption of ad-hoc and temporary teachers as per DoPT Roster, a provision for teachers working against vacancies which are approved and earmarked according to the reservation roster meant for teaching positions in the University, given that the University has failed to fill up vacancies on a regular basis.”
They added: “It is pertinent to mention here that the service conditions of the ad-hoc teachers in the University of Delhi are discriminatory and exploitative. They fulfil all the requisite academic qualifications like NET/JRF, M Phil, PhD, Post-doctorate, etc. from prestigious Universities of India and abroad, and are appointed against substantive posts according to the approved reservation roster. They have contributed consistently to the academic and the corporate growth of the university, however, they are denied facilities such as annual increments, medical benefits, leaves, etc.”
The MPs said that three tenures of ad-hoc teachers were “fixed for four months which get extended on the basis of satisfactory service records and interviews” and that this “indefinite nature of ad-hoc service” stood in “stark violation of not only the Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Delhi, but also of UGC Regulations which have stipulated maximum 10% for such vacancies”.
“Not only that, it also goes against the spirit of various court judgements (e.g. Uma Devi versus the Union of India, 2006) and violates the fundamental rights of the affected teachers including the right to equal wage for equal work. The situation has assumed such a critical proportion that it has adversely impacted the quality of the teaching-learning process in the University of Delhi, thus affecting even students taking admission to one of the premier institutions in the country which claims to offer quality and affordable higher education,” they wrote.
Their letter further informed: “The most shocking consequence of this lack of permanent employment has been on the teachers from the marginalised and the socio-economically deprived sections of the society who constitute the maximum number of these ad-hoc teachers. Most of these ad-hoc teachers belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and PwD categories come from really under-privileged backgrounds and are first generation learners: the lack of stability in the profession has increased their socio-economic insecurity.”
The MPs said that various state governments had initiated such processes through notified executive orders. “Even the Government of NCT, Delhi, through the Governing Bodies in the colleges maintained by the Delhi Government, has shown willingness towards the process of absorption: many of these Governing Bodies have passed resolutions recommending a one-time absorption of all working temporary/ad-hoc teachers which is yet to be realised,” they wrote.
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