The indefinite hunger strike by ad hoc teachers in front of the Arts Faculty gate of Delhi University demanding absorption as permanent staff entered the sixth day on Wednesday.
The teachers, who are fighting against the cause and are independent of any political organisation, also brought to light various issues they are facing due to lack of permanent employment.
Manoj Kumar, economics professor at Satyawati College, who has been petitioning the administration and the government since 2016 said that the exploitation of ad hoc professors like him was a violation of human rights. “We cannot take leave for our own marriages. The same is the case with women as they are not entitled to even maternity leave” said Prof. Kumar.
Maternity leave
Asha Devi, a Hindi professor at Aditi Mahavidyalaya, has had a difficult experience with the university’s ad hoc system over her 20 years of service. Since there was no provision for maternity leave, she was thrown out of her position at the college when she had a baby in January 1996. After that, she shifted multiple colleges, taking up guest lecture positions till she got back to Aditi Mahavidyalaya in 2008, where she has been working as an ad-hoc since then.
Prof. Devi applied for the permanent staff position twice, in 2001 and 2004, but claimed that both times individuals with connections in the administration were given the positions. “It has taken me 10 years to learn about the politics of this place. Now, I don’t have anything to lose, so I am here. If I had known this earlier, I might have done something else in my life,” she lamented.
Apart from allegations of nepotism, the protesters also complained about a defunct system of hiring permanent staff.
Rohan Srivastava, an ad hoc history professor at Maitreyi College, said he had spent close to ₹1 lakh on applications for permanent positions but in vain.
“There are about 80 colleges in the university and each application costs about ₹ 500. A call for permanent staff had been made at least three times. But each time, the interview process got delayed for over a year after which the process lapsed. The administration doesn’t give a reason for why it’s doing this,” Prof. Srivastava said.
He, however, said that the call for absorption might be unfair to those who apply for the staff position for the first time.
“But if people who have been working as ad hocs for the last 20 years are not made permanent, what is the use? Why were they being employed in the first place then?” he asked.
Himanshu Singh, economics professor at Satyawati college, said while the protesters stood in support of Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and its call for a two-day university shut down, he felt that they have not given enough attention to the issue.
