The DUTA delegation comprising DUTA President, Joint Secretary and several members of the DUTA Executive and Academic Council, were physically stopped from meeting the Principal and were subjected to slogan shouting and manhandling by a group of about fifty persons, mostly ad-hoc teachers and non-teaching staff of the college. This was clearly done at the behest of the Principal, who has been using the large number of ad-hoc teachers in the college for such purposes in the past as well.
The DUTA had gone to appeal to the Principal not to hold interviews in the Department of Commerce for appointment of two teachers against workload that belongs to the Department of Economics. Apart from endangering the workload and jobs of two existing teachers in the Department of Economics, it would be in violation of the clear instructions of the Head of the Economics Department, Prof Aditya Bhattacharjea, that these two Economics papers would be taught by Economics teachers wherever they had been located so far. Any change in status quo would be detrimental to the interests of the existing Economics teachers in Kalindi college, apart from being in gross violation of the written instructions from the UGC that all teachers in position till 22nd May, 2014, be continued.
The confusion has been set off by an unauthorised Notice put up by the Head of the Commerce Department, Prof J P Sharma, on the Commerce Department website that from now on the two allied Economics papers for Commerce students would be taught by the Department of Commerce.
As clarified by Prof Bhattacharjea, this was a misrepresentation of the decision of the Academic Council, and was also in contradiction to the position of the earlier HOD Commerce, Prof Bhanumurthy. The DUTA has written to the VC appealing to him to issue instructions for immediate withdrawal of this mischievous notice that has caused confusion in several colleges, and is threatening the employment of a large number of Economics teachers.
More than anything else, what is really appalling is the attitude of the Principal of Kalindi College, who instead of having a civilised discussion with the DUTA delegation, set a mob of ad-hoc teachers and
non-teaching employees to heckle the delegation and continuously shout slogans like “Kalindi Principal Zindabad ” and “DUTA go back”. This is a prime example of the kind of situation highlighted in the DUTA White Paper, where a huge number of teachers illegally kept ad-hoc for many years, can be exploited by a cynical Principal who treats a public institution like her personal empire, where dissenting voices are ruthlessly crushed and victimised. The DUTA had highlighted the case
of suspension of an outstanding scholar and upright teacher of Physics on ridiculous charges, that was eventually set aside by the Hon’ble High Court. Shockingly, the college could not even produce the letter of the VC approving the suspension.
It is not surprising that this Principal has been one of the greatest supporters of FYUP, and this was the only college that sent a glowing account of FYUP to the DUTA, without even holding a Staff Association meeting to discuss the issue!
The DUTA demands a thorough enquiry into the way ad-hoc teachers of Kalindi College have been used by the Principal, Dr. Anula Maurya, to sign statements in support of her vindictive actions against
dissenting teachers.
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