The second day of DUTA’s well-attended Jansuwai focused on the illegalities and financial irregularities committed by the DU VC. Witnesses included teachers and students who have been forced to file RTIs or take recourse to litigation against the University in order to secure justice, in the last four years. Prof. Hany Babu of the Dept. of English and Academic Council member Dr. Hans Raj Suman outlined the details behind DU’s repeated attempts to deny due reservations to students in admissions and teachers in permanent appointments. Prof. Babu cited court documents, to illustrate the fact that VC Dinesh Singh had appealed against the High Court’s single-bench Order on OBC reservations in students’ admissions as soon as he had assumed office in 2010. His position was subversive of the National Reservation Policy and eventually the Supreme Court had had to intervene in order to ensure that seats reserved for OBC would no longer continue to remain unfilled in DU. Refusing to learn lessons, the DU VC went ahead and misused his Emergency Powers to push through, in 2013, a set of modalities for the implementation of the 200-Point Reservation Roster that have yet again make a mockery of the Government’s Reservation Policy and will ensure that the prescribed percentage is not filled till 2050. Dr. Suman also pointed out that the UGC guidelines on Reservations, issued in 2006, continue to be ignored by DU. Prof. Dinesh Singh’s affidavit in the Delhi High Court, which states that DU is a State unto itself and hence, not bound by the law of the land (vis-à-vis reservations), was repeatedly cited by the speakers to show the extent of personal arrogance behind the misgovernance that characterizes the tenure of the current VC in DU. Anuradha Marwah, teacher of ZHC, pointed at gross violation of reservation policy in her college. She said that the misgovernance by the VC has created a system in the University wherein justice is lost and no one in authority is held responsible.
EC member Dr. Abha Dev Habib pointed out that statutory violations were deemed necessary by the VC when he realized that the Statutes and Ordinances of the DU Act do not allow authorities to bring about unilateral and arbitrary changes. While Prof. Singh’s main motive has been to establish a corporate and managerial model of decision-making in this university, the joint resistance of teachers and students against his agenda drove him to commit brazen violations and irregularities. His acts of desperation included the misuse of Emergency Powers to victimize teachers in all routine and service matters. She recounted the shameful instance of the VC personally threatening her in an EC meeting for asking questions regarding funds used for purchase of 62,000 laptops for FYUP students, Antardhvani and Gyanodaya. The VC had also asked her to apologize for writing complaints to the Visitor against the former Registrar who had misled the EC members regarding the proposal of selectively increasing the retirement age of the PVC, Director of South Campus and the Dean of Colleges to seventy years, another glaring statutory violation.
Former AC member Amitava Chakravarty spoke on findings of the RTI responses on purchase of laptops and Antardhvani. While over 170 crores of OBC funds were diverted towards purchase of laptops, funds meant for the development of teaching facilities in Departments was diverted to Antardhvani.
AC member and English teacher Rudrashish Chakraborty spoke about the numerous statutory violations related to the process of permanent appointments in which UGC Regulations on Selection Committee and Eligibility Criteria of candidates, as well as the University’s own Ordinances have been torn to shreds in order to favour personal relations. He highlighted the protection given by the VC to the KM College Acting Principal S P Gupta, who has been indicted for a major financial scam in the NET Entrance Exam, and is presiding over unparalleled misgovernance of the college, especially the appointments process. Several students from KM college lamented the plight of students after several outstanding teachers of their department were suddenly terminated.
AC member Shashi Shekhar Singh described the major scam in the misuse of grants for OBC expansion, especially the non-payment of salary to ad-hocs appointed against the expansion for several months at a time.
SOL teacher J. Khuntia offered witness to the massive diversion of crores from the corpus fund of SOL which has now come under the scanner of the CAG after sustained effort by the SOL Staff Association and DUTA. The corrupt nexus between the DU VC, the SOL Chairman Prof. C S Dubey and Executive Director Prof. Pokhariyal has resulted in the usurping of the powers of the Staff Council in subversion of the Ordinance for SOL. Numerous teachers who have dared to expose or speak against their nexus have been victimised.
Hem Chand Jain, Commerce Department, DDU, spoke on the financial irregularity regarding Uttarakand Relief Fund. He recounted that the Registrar’s letter in June 2013 demanded that one day salary of employees would be detected unless they gave in writing otherwise. When teachers wanted to file Income Tax rebate for the financial year 2013-14, they discovered that the money collected was still with the University till as late as July 2014! Information on this could only be forced out of the University only after several RTIs.
Senior teacher Amar Nath Gupta spoke about the DU VC filing an appeal against the High Court order of 30th April 2014 in the matter of CPF to GPF and arbitrarily stopping both pension and CPF for retiring teachers causing them immense hardship. This has been done in a vindictive manner without any authorization of the MHRD/UGC.
The Jansunwai will continue for the third day tomorrow when the repressive style of governance and assault on the democratic fabric of the University will be highlighted.
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