Letter to teachers by Nandita Narain, out going DUTA President

THANK YOU !                                                                                                                           3.9.2017

Dear Teachers,

Thank you for reposing faith in us yet again and electing DTF candidates  RAJIB RAY as President of DUTA and  BISWAJIT MOHANTY, MITHURAAJ DHUSIYA and NAJMA REHMANI  as members of the DUTA Executive.

At the end of four years of a tumultous Presidentship, I want to thank all of you for the tremendous co-operation and affection I have received from you. When you first gave me this responsibility in 2013, the dark clouds of neo-liberal “reforms” had already gathered over our beloved University in the form of the semester system, FYUP, ad-hocism, API and other attacks on our service conditions, implemented ruthlessly by a vicious authoritarian regime that sought to spawn similar regimes in all colleges and departments. Together, we have fought to reclaim our University from these forces of darkness, not only within the University, in and outside its statutory bodies, in colleges and departments, but also in the streets of Delhi and across the country to build a larger solidarity and resistance.

I especially want to thank all Office Bearers who have worked with me, and stood by the teaching community like a rock- Dr Harish Khanna, Sandeep, C S Rawat, Anita Ghosh (how we all miss her!), Rajesh Jha and Bhupinder Chaudhry, as well as all Executive members, and elected AC and EC members.

I want to thank all Staff Associations for breathing life into the movement, and all those teachers who have fought multiple battles for justice both individually and collectively in their colleges and departments.

Thank you to Sudhir, Amit and Satish, who as staff assigned to the DUTA Office, have worked tirelessly and with missionary zeal in this difficult period.

Thanks to all the Principals and HODs who have cooperated with the DUTA, especially in matters of rejoining of ad-hocs, payment of summer salary, inclusion of Physical Education teachers in the roster, release of pension etc. Special thanks to those who have allowed us to examine their records and pore over their rosters for hours so that we could detect errors and suggest corrections.

A special thanks to all FEDCUTA members who helped to revive this organisation by holding elections after a four-year gap, and participating in all its activities including Seminars, Conventions, Dharnas and Rallies to highlight our collective concerns as well as stand in solidarity with each other, especially in cases of victimisation by authorities. Our collective efforts, in coordination with AIFUCTO, helped to build a powerful and dynamic teachers’ movement across the country that has effectively articulated our opposition to privatisation and commercialisation being imposed on us in the garb of “autonomous colleges” and “graded autonomy of universities”,  and made a strong case for our legitimate demands of permanent appointments, promotion and pension at par with All India services before the VIIth Pay Review Committee.

A big thanks to DUCKU, DUCLSA, SC/ST Welfare Association for DU, who enthusiastically supported our action programmes, especially in matters of pension, autonomous colleges and pay revision.

Thanks to all students, especially SAVE DU, who helped to build a massive students movement  against the destructive reforms, especially the FYUP and CBCS, and stood by the teachers in their battle against the pernicious workload notification last summer, that would have degraded quality and led to loss of thousands of posts.

And finally, a huge thanks to the DTF, from whom I have learnt the meaning of passionate and selfless struggle.

Together we have been able to lead DUTA to success in so many issues- rollback of FYUP, no second term for a tyrannical VC, rollback of a workload increase that would have led to loss of 5000 posts etc.

Together, we can do it again. We can reverse the tide and stop the juggernaut of privatisation being rolled out by the Government. For this, the fight must go on. Your vote for RAJIB RAY has ensured that the hope and struggle for the future of public-funded education in our country is kept alive. The new leadership of the DUTA and FEDCUTA must remain fearless in its opposition to injustice at all levels and in all circumstances. It must strengthen the  unity of teachers for our common goals, and build new solidarities with students , parents and citizens at large in the battle to save public-funded education that is, after all, the bedrock of our democracy.

As outgoing President, I will continue to be a member of the DUTA Executive for two years, and will contribute to the collective effort to the best of my ability.

DUTA Zindabad! Inquilab Zindabad!

Nandita Narain.