The Delhi University Teachers’ Association will sit on an indefinite hunger strike starting October 10 in protest against the Vice-Chancellor’s refusal to meet with them, and for redress of various other grievances that they have against the university.
The DUTA took the decision at the General Body Meeting held on Saturday at Ramjas College. Earlier that week, a delegation of DUTA had met President Pranab Mukerjee. They alleged that the permission to hold their GBM had been granted only on the basis of their meeting the President and that otherwise the university had sought to refuse them space for the meeting. They also alleged that the recent order of the High Court in which biometric system for recording the attendance of the teachers had been made compulsory for the university had the hand of the V-C.
“The General Body of the DUTA is particularly perturbed by a fresh assault by the university authorities on the integrity and self-esteem of the teaching community through the machinations of bio-metric and any other system of attendance. The General Body notes that the matter was debated at length on December 23, 2009, in the Executive Council which rejected the proposal for daily marking of attendance by teachers, and instead authorised the Vice-Chancellor to set up a sub-committee and arrive at a decision in the light of the DUTA document of 2000 on academic reforms and curbing absenteeism. This General Body therefore urges the Vice- Chancellor to set up the committee to expedite the matter in the best interests of teaching-learning,” said DUTA president Amar Deo Sharma.
The DUTA also said that if “sanity” was not restored in the university, they would continue their hunger strike right outside the V-C’s office. “If the university authorities fail to concede the demands raised by the DUTA within a definite time frame after the commencement of the relay hunger strike, the DUTA will move towards more precipitative actions including general strike after due consultations with staff associations and department councils,” said DUTA secretary S. D. Siddiqui.
