DUTA Press Release: 11 December 2017

                                                                                                                         
The DUTA celebrated 50 years since it was democratically constituted as an elected body in 1967, in a day-long event at the Delhi University Conference Centre, remembering and mapping the history of its struggles and the teachers’ movement in the country. All former Presidents of DUTA through its long history were felicitated in the inaugural session and a warm tribute was paid to Kumaresh Chakravarty, former President (1971 – 1973), who passed away earlier this year, for his remarkable contribution in building the DUTA as a truly representative and fighting body of teachers. In his inaugural address, the Chief Guest, Shri O P Kohli, the Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat who served as DUTA President (1973-1975 and 1977-1979), wondered how it was possible to talk about quality education when permanent appointments and promotions are not taking place, when teachers do not have pension while on the other hand, universities, especially Delhi University, has been the ground for a series of experiments without any thought about whether this was helping in attaining excellence. Referring to the implementation of the semester system, the FYUP and the CBCS, he felt that successive experiments have led to erosion of standards and quality.

In the sessions that followed, former Presidents like Zahoor Siddiqui, M.M.P. Singh, N.K. Kakkar, Shriram Oberoi, Shaswati Mazumdar, Amar Deo Sharma, Aditya Narain Misra, Nandita Narain recounted the struggles launched by the DUTA through its history. They commemorated the journey of DUTA from a time when teachers had neither promotions nor any other benefits, all of which were achieved through fiercely fought struggles. Today once again, universities are facing a crisis with policy decisions aimed towards commercialisation of education, withdrawal of government funding, increased government interference and a generalized hostile environment. All these have adverse consequences for equity, quality, and access to public funded institutions.

Other eminent speakers included Shri J S Rajput, former Director of NCERT, who spoke of the dilution of quality of education at the school and the university level and that the power of imagination and the power of ideas that Rabindranath Tagore spoke of needs to be remembered to make education meaningful. Dr. Kiran Walia (former Executive Council member) spoke of the need to save education in which the DUTA must continue to play a stellar role as in the past. Prof. Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, JNU spoke about the commodification of education which necessarily leads to exclusivity and kills curiosity and inquisitiveness in the student and leads to less socially responsible individuals. Prof. Anand Kumar spoke about the role played by DUTA for teachers all across the country and its important interventions in crucial policy decisions in the field of education. Prof N Sukumar spoke about the role of public education in expanding social justice and the need to make education accessible to all sections. Shri I M Kapahy, member UGC and former member of the Executive Council, also expressed his concern about increasing ad-hocism in universities and consequences of the irrational and arbitrary API promotion system.

All the other teacher activists too spoke of the need to make DUTA a vibrant body by ensuring inclusive participation of all sections and the immediacy of resolving long pending issues of teachers like appointments, promotions and resolution of pension issues. Speakers also highlighted the fact that constant lamentation that Indian universities were falling behind in international ranking was misplaced as norms and standards need to be set according to parameters relevant to our context. Other speakers highlighted the manner in which the government today is hell-bent on dismantling public funded higher education with a shift from grants to loans through the HEFA, the tripartite agreement forced upon universities which will force them to raise student fees and also to generate 30% of their own resources. Speakers also recounted their experiences as DUTA activists and recounted some of the more difficult challenges faced in the recent past when the DUTA could not even get a space for holding its General Body meetings. Memories of the struggles together and good and bad times were shared by all those who have contributed to making the DUTA a body that it is – a truly representative and struggling body of all teachers.