The stand-off between the Delhi University Teachers' Association and Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh intensified on Tuesday with angry teachers terming the V-C's absence from their General Body Meeting as a further attempt to sideline them.
“He has a standing invitation to any of our meetings, but he did not come. We have written so many letters to him asking for appointments to meet him, but he consistently avoids meeting us and has even refused to acknowledge our existence, always ignoring requests for appointments,” alleged DUTA member Saikat Ghosh.
On the other hand, Prof. Dinesh Singh defended himself thus: “I have given them appointments, the last time I was all ready to meet them, when they suddenly said they were bringing 100 members with them. I am willing to meet elected representatives, but how am I supposed to entertain 100 people in my office? It is all on record; they made the appointment days in advance and suddenly sprung this on me.”
Meanwhile, DUTA members continue to see the absence of the V-C in their meeting as a further snub. “He attends functions like Saraswati Pooja and other events hosted by individual teachers, but a collective body like the DUTA voted by 6,000 teachers of the university, he will not meet?” said Mr. Ghosh.
His sentiments were echoed by DUTA member Abha Dev Habib who said: “This is not an isolated incident, when we were drafting the invitation itself, I knew he would not attend, as he has always refused to have any meaningful dialogue, ignoring requests for appointments to meet him. He does not listen nor does he want to talk to any of the teachers regarding genuine issues,”
