DUTA calls for indefinite strike over ad hoc appointments

Appointments made after July 20 will not be renewed

Up to 400 ad hoc teachers of Delhi University stand to loose their jobs following a decision of the principal’s association to not renew appointments made after July 20, teachers’ union president Rajib Ray said on Tuesday. Saying that the move is not a relief, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has called for an indefinite strike starting Wednesday.

The Delhi University Principal’s Association (DUPA) passed this resolution at a general body meeting following “verbal communication” by university officials. The DUPA had written to the university seeking various clarifications on a university directive dated August 28, calling upon colleges to appoint guest teachers against substantive vacancies arising in the current academic session.

“This is no releif. The movement is demanding more relief. The four demands — withdrawal of letter dated August 28, release of option and promotion forms, counting of past services and keeping in abeyance — have been made very clear to the V-C. There is no going back,” Mr Ray said.

DUPA had earlier decided that all ad hoc appointments would be kept in abeyance till clarifications were received.

Identifying the university’s directive to appoint guest teachers in a letter dated August 28 as the root of the current crisis, DUTA has demanded a withdrawal of the same. On Tuesday, DUTA also wrote to the University Grant’s Commission seeking its intervention in the matter. If the university’s direction is implemented, it would destabilise the teaching-learning environment in the university and put at risk the employment of thousands of teachers currently serving, it said. The teachers’ union, which plans to hold demonstration on Wednesday in this regard, also announced that it would begin an indefinite strike and carry out an evaluation boycott if the letter is not withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the university’s students’ union has also appealed for the letter to be withdrawn and that the semester examinations not be disrupted as consequence of the current imbroglio.