DU teachers strike over regularisation, grants; classes impacted across colleges

Delhi University and other affiliated colleges have witnessed sit-ins by college staff associations on Thursday demanding prompt filling of teachers’ vacancies, release of grants in a timely manner and regulation of temporary teachers. 

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) campaign has organised these protests. Teachers and non-teaching staff joined the dharnas to voice long-standing institutional and service-related concerns, which also caused disruptions to classes at various colleges.

The action was taken in response to growing concerns about the ongoing reliance on temporary, ad hoc, and guest faculty as well as uncertainties about salary payments and the money needed to satisfy colleges' financial obligations. The classes got affected because of the protest as it took place during the day and evening college’s timing across colleges of Delhi University.

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Major demands by DUTA

The main demand of the DUTA protest is absorption of ad hoc and long-serving teachers in twelve government funded colleges in Delhi University. Their restoration of their prior service promotion and increment for doctoral and MPhill degree. 

Additionally, the association also raised concern on filling the vacancies for teachers, addressing faculty shortages, reservation issues in principal appointments, changing the screening criteria to incorporate peer-reviewed journals, and making WUS Health Centre facilities available to all employees.

Highlighting the financial crisis faced by institutions due to delayed grants, The Tribune quotes Sujit Kumar, faculty of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, "Our college has already exhausted its grant. We somehow managed to pay salaries last month using the society fund, but the grant for the current month has still not been released."

Addressing the reliance on temporary faculty, he emphasised that colleges cannot be run on "guest, temporary and ad hoc faculty alone" and called for immediate absorption of working teachers alongside filling all additional vacant posts.

Kumar added that colleges face severe fund shortages while making timely payments to retiring employees, and that if funds are not released on time, salary payments may also be impacted next month.

He emphasised that colleges cannot operate on "guest, temporary and ad hoc faculty alone" in response to the reliance on temporary faculty, and he demanded that working teachers be immediately absorbed in addition to filling all other open positions.