Teachers of 12 DU colleges start indefinite university shutdown in DU

Teachers of Delhi University on Thursday started an indefinite “university shutdown”, suspending classes in some colleges and refraining from taking up administrative work in some others, to protest against the delayed salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff at 12 government-funded colleges

Teachers of Delhi University on Thursday started an indefinite “university shutdown”, suspending classes in some colleges and refraining from taking up administrative work in some others, to protest against the delayed salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff at 12 government-funded colleges.

Delhi University. (HT file)

Though several principals said that the impact of the strike was minimal due to Thursday being a restricted holiday (due to Mahashivratri), members of the staff association of various colleges deemed it a success.

The 12 fully state-funded colleges in DU have been at loggerheads with the Delhi government since 2019 over the formation of governing bodies and the delay in release of grants. The Delhi government had last year alleged that a special audit sanctioned by them had revealed financial irregularities in these colleges, indicating a “big fraud” and “ghost appointments”.

Manoj Khanna, principal of Ramjas College, said, “Many teachers took online classes today. Since today was a restricted holiday (under which teachers have the choice to take the leave or not), it will be tough to gauge the impact of the shutdown. We will only know in the coming days. However, teaching and non-teaching staff go on a strike , academic activities will be hampered.”

Kumar Rahul, president of the staff association at Ramjas College, however, said that the strike had been successful. “The strike was largely successful. Since classes are still taking place in online mode, it is difficult to ascertain if people actually refrain or take online classes. When we had given the call for a strike, we received positive responses from our group. Teachers also called us and asked if they could take classes after 5pm, after their official working hours so that students do not suffer.”

Sujit Kumar, executive member of staff association of the state government-funded Bhim Rao Ambedkar College and Commerce teacher said that their college had observed the strike. “We have to submit marks of practicals or internal assessments by March 13. We did not do so today because of the strike. How long can we work without a salary?” he said.

A Delhi government spokesperson said the situation implies “bad financial management” by college authorities who had not paid salaries despite release of grants.

“The non-submission of utilisation certificates of previous instalments by the colleges has delayed the release of final instalment by the Delhi government..It seems as if there is an attempt to hide financial irregularities by not submitting utilisation certificates,” the official said, adding that they would launch a probe into the ‘financial mismanagement’.

Governing body members of Deen Dayal Upadhyay College cry scam

A government-appointed governing body (GB) member of Deen Dayal Upadhyay College on Thursday alleged financial mismanagement of funds by college officials, which has led to pending wages for the staff. The 10-member governing body of the college comprises people nominated both by the university and the Delhi government and take important decisions, like appointment of staff members.

GB member Anil Chaudhury on Thursday said that the Delhi government has cleared the third instalment dues for the college in December 2020 but the college has not paid the salaries of teachers and others for the last several months. He said that the college has funds to the tune of ₹6.48 crore with it

“As per our knowledge, the government of Delhi has sanctioned the third instalment of grant-in-aid to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, which amounts to Rs.1.95 crore, under the salary head and ₹0.45 crore under the other salary head. However, the college has failed to submit any utilisation certificate for the same. This non-submission of the utilisation certificate has caused a delay in the Delhi government releasing the fourth installment for the college,” said Chaudhary.

Reacting to the allegations, college principal Hem Chand Jain said, “The government released ₹1.9 crore as against salary requirement of ₹10 crore. The allegations levied by them are baseless. ₹6 crore that they are talking about is the student security fund which is refundable. The other funds stated by them are hostel fund and college development fund which cannot be used for other purposes.”