The Delhi University Teachers’ Association, DUTA expresses its categorical objection to the inaccurate statement made by the Minister of Education on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 26.7.2021 in response to an unstarred question (No. 1035) about the number of ad-hoc teachers serving in various universities of the country. It is shameful that the Annexure states that there are 58 ad-hoc teachers in the University of Delhi as on 1.4.2021, when this is so far from the reality.
The DUTA has been highlighting the plight of the adhoc teachers of Delhi University in a number of memorandums and correspondence with the MoE.
It is a well-known fact that around 4500 teachers are currently working on ad-hoc basis in Delhi University, with the number increasing every day as no recruitments have taken place for more than ten years now and many teachers have superannuated in the interim period.
Equally shocking is the Minister’s statement that the Government/UGC has no proposal for absorbing the adhoc teachers in permanent service. The timing of the Minister’s statement, coinciding with the fanfare with which the Government is “celebrating” one year of the implementation of NEP-2020, is ominous to say the least.
The kind of restructuring envisaged by the Government for Higher Education implies withdrawal of funding and reliance on loans rather than grants. This will directly entail higher student fees and fewer job opportunities, especially in those subjects that are not marketable.
Given this context, the adhoc teachers of Delhi University face an extremely uncertain future. Their service conditions are discriminatory and exploitative despite fulfilling all requisite academic qualifications and contributing to the academic and the corporate growth of the university in the same way as their permanent colleagues.
Even though they work against posts that are substantive in nature and are earmarked into different categories as per the approved reservation roster, there has been no effort on the part of the Government and the institutions to make them permanent. It is an extremely unfortunate situation and a denial of their basic rights to a dignified life.
The indefinite nature of ad-hoc service (of four months duration which is extended) stands in stark violation of not only the Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Delhi, but also of UGC Regulations which have stipulated a maximum of 10% for such vacancies. Not only that, it also goes against the spirit of various court judgements (e.g. Uma Devi versus the Union of India, 2006) and violates the fundamental rights of the affected teachers including the right to equal wage for equal work.
The most shocking consequence of this lack of permanent employment has been on women and those from the marginalised and the socio-economically deprived sections of the society, who constitute the maximum number of these ad-hoc teachers. Most of the ad-hoc teachers belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and PwD categories come from really under-privileged backgrounds and are first generation learners: the lack of stability in the profession has increased their socio-economic insecurity.
This has also resulted in violation of the mandatory constitutional provisions of representation to these categories through reservation in teaching jobs in the University.
Various State Governments have initiated such processes of regularization for teachers in their State Universities through notified executive orders. In 2009, the UGC had asked Universities/Institutes to absorb UGC Research Scientists working in the units.
In the context of the above, we demand a One-Time Regulation for the absorption of the temporary/ad-hoc teachers in the University.
Considering that the Supreme Court in its judgement of 1994 (Raj Singh versus the University of Delhi) and reiterated in 2016 (the Kalyani judgement) makes it mandatory for Universities to follow UGC Regulations in cases of direct recruitment and promotion, we demand that the UGC/MHRD frames a specific regulation which allows for the absorption of serving temporary/ad-hoc teachers working against vacancies which are approved and earmarked according to the reservation roster meant for teaching positions in the University.
