Almost 8,000 teachers, scholars and students of Delhi University (DU) on Monday carried out a protest march from University Grants Commission (UGC) office at Mandi House to Parliament against the gazette notification of the Commission.
The teachers have already boycotted the evaluation process in protest to the UGC notification. The decision of the “march” was taken at the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) General Body meeting on Saturday.
The notification has increased the workload of ‘direct teaching’ on assistant professors from 16 to 24 hours per week and from 14 to 22 hours for associate professors. Student organisations and members associations of Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) took part in the protest march. They demanded for the “roll back” of the notification.
In the General Body Meeting of DUTA on Saturday, around 5,000 teachers staged a protest against the UGC notification at the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) on Saturday. The teachers described the HRD ministry’s explanation as diversionary tactics.
“If our demands are not accepted we will carry on the protest. The teachers are stirred with the support which we are getting from the community. We will not allow demolishing the charters and composition of the university,” Rajesh Jha, Joint Secretary of DUTA said.
“The teachers will not accept any diversionary tactics of the UGC or the HRD Ministry,” said Jha, adding that the teachers’ association has decided to extend the boycott of the evaluation process.
The teachers have also threatened to boycott the admission process if the ministry does not fulfill their demands. Admission to undergraduate courses in the university is going to start from June 1 and the process will be completely online from this year. The confrontation has led a deadlock situation in the university and the V-C’s office has not responded to resolve the matter.