DUTA Press Release: December 10, 2019

The protest action by teachers of Delhi University under the banner of the DUTA is continuing since 4th December 2019 without a pause with thousands of teachers continuing the dharna outside VC office. Today teachers took out a massive march called Maha Rally demanding absorption of adhoc and temporary teachers.

Police barricades, use of force and water cannon did not deter teachers who marched through the campus and carried out a brief symbolic sit in on the ring road. The Government and the University administration must understand that the demand for justice cannot be defeated by use of brute force.

The MHRD has agreed to some of the urgent demands of the DUTA, including the amendment to the 28 August DU Circular  and the counting of past services in all pending cases of promotions as per the 2018 Career Advancement Scheme. However, the demands for absorption and the counting of total years of service for promotions have not been conceded to by the MHRD.

The inhuman and exploitative conditions under which adhoc teachers have been forced to work for many years, including the denial of minimum employee rights like maternity leave etc., can only be mitigated through absorption.

The DUTA urges the MHRD and the VC to initiate further dialogue on all the urgent and pending issues that have been ignored, despite repeated appeals in the form of memoranda and letter. The DUTA also calls upon the VC to immediately act upon the promises made by the MHRD.  The refusal to pay heed to the just demands of teachers over the past years has forced teachers to a resolute mass movement which cannot be browbeaten.