DUTA Press Release, 30 November 2016

The DUTA strongly condemns the Press Release issued by the University in regard to the decisions of the Academic Council meeting held yesterday, in particular to the following:


1. that the 3rd and 4th amendments of the UGC regulation were adopted in principle,
2. the failure to mention that the committee to revisit the recommendations would be expanded so           that it would have 50% elected members of the AC/EC; and
3. that teachers of Physical Education and Librarians have been mentioned as Group A positions in the Library and Physical Education cadre in the non-teaching category.


These clearly contradict the discussions and decisions announced in the AC meeting in which elected AC members had argued that the recommendations proposed in the agenda were unacceptable in their present form and the Vice-Chancellor had agreed that the recommendations be revisited in the light of objections raised by expanding the committee to include equal number of elected teacher representatives. The gross misrepresentation in the Press Release issued by the Registrar makes a mockery of the functioning of the Statutory Bodies of the University.


The DUTA demands that the University issue a clarification in regard to the above. It further demands immediate announcement of the names of elected teacher representatives to be included in the Committee on Appointments and Promotions and urgent scheduling of its meetings so that appropriate recommendations in keeping with the demands of the DUTA are brought before the Academic Council at the earliest.


The DUTA reiterates its basic objections to the recommendations proposed at yesterday’s meeting that include the following:


1. The Ad hoc Committee’s Recommendations on Appointments are sketchy and half-baked. Without details about distribution of marks for academic record and research performance or adequate weightage for ad-hoc/temporary teaching experience, what specifies “domain knowledge” and how it is to be tested, the objective of greater transparency and objectivity in the recruitment process will be defeated.


2. The Recommendations on Appointments are inimical to the interests of 4,500 teachers who have been kept ad-hoc under exploitative conditions for years for no fault of theirs, simply because of the refusal by the University administration to hold interviews for regular (permanent and temporary) appointments, in wilful violation of UGC Regulations, University Ordinances, EC Guidelines and all academic and humane considerations. The AC/EC must formulate modalities for a one-time absorption of all such teachers so that their interests are protected. The exemption from NET to teachers who have registered for their PhD before 11.7.2009 lays down conditions, referring to publications and presentations from their PhD work, which are impossible to fulfil retrospectively. Hence, the AC/EC must give a one-time exemption to all such teachers who are in service in the university.


3. The Recommendations are silent about the proper implementation of the DOPT Roster to identify total number of vacancies reserved for SC/ST/OBC and PWD, including the backlog, which is essential for recruitment to begin in a Constitutional and legal manner.


4. The Recommendations on Promotions have made no attempt to address the absurdities in the calculation of API points, such as 70 points for direct teaching that will need 525 hours of direct teaching per year, whereas the maximum possible as per the UGC Regulation, over 24 actual teaching weeks in a year is 16×24 = 384 hours! This too is possible only if there is no institutional holiday or no leave is taken by the teacher.


5.  The Recommendations on Promotions have ignored the plight of thousands of teachers with zero promotion for the last several years because of the illegal decision of the Executive Council to implement the 2nd Amendment that was adopted on 17.8.2013 retrospectively with effect from 31.12.2008. The promotions of all teachers, whose date of eligibility falls before 17.8.2013, should be governed by CAS 1998.


6. The Recommendations have surreptitiously sought to revert the designation of our Assistant Professors in Physical Education to Directors of Physical Education. Since 1981, there are no DPEs in Colleges. They were re-designated by the Executive Council as Lecturers and then Assistant Professors, with consequent amendments in the Ordinances having been incorporated. In its reply to a letter from the AR, South Campus, the UGC has also upheld the existence of Assistant Professors in Physical Education in Colleges. Similarly, the Recommendations have also shockingly included Librarians as Group A cadre whereas the Librarians are classified as academic, non-vacational staff, for whom the DUTA has been demanding parity.


The DUTA further demands that comprehensive proposals be brought before the Academic Council that include the proper implementation of the DOPT Roster, withdrawal of the illegal decision of the Executive Council to implement the 2nd Amendment to the UGC Regulations w.r.t. promotions retrospectively from 31.12.2008, and modalities for a one-time absorption of teachers who have been kept ad-hoc for years, because of the refusal of the University to hold interviews for regular appointments.