300 ad hoc DU teachers may lose their jobs

The new University Grants Commission guidelines for appointment of ad hoc lecturers in universities may jeopardise the career prospects of about 300 ad hoc teachers in Delhi University, said All India Researchers' Coordination Committee on Wednesday. Joyeeta Ghosh reports.

The new University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines for appointment of ad hoc lecturers in universities may jeopardise the career prospects of about 300 ad hoc teachers in Delhi University, said All India Researchers' Coordination Committee (AIRCC) on Wednesday.

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As per UGC's (Minimum Standards And Procedure for Awards of M.Phil/Ph.D degree) Regulation 2009, on appointment of ad hoc lecturers in universities (which will come into effect from July 16, 2010), a candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET)/State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) and/or has been awarded Ph.D degree.

In compliance with the UGC regulations, the Delhi University, on April 20, 2010, sent a letter to principals of various colleges, asking them to abide by the above guidelines.

The AIRCC has said that this order of DU is in violation of the letter issued by the UGC on August 29, 2009.

A letter issued by the UGC to vice-chancellors of universities on August 29, 2009 mentions that, "…those presently working as teachers in ad hoc capacity but not NET qualified shall be given a time period of two years to qualify in the NET/SLET and during this period, colleges and universities may not fill teaching posts presently held by them on ad hoc basis or regular basis."

Anuj Kumar Tarun, secretary of AIRCC said, "We wrote to the UGC and the vice-chancellor, pointing out that the university's letter supersedes the UGC regulation. The UGC, in a letter dated July 6, 2010, has asked the university to look into the matter."

"All we are asking is that these ad hoc teachers be granted time till August 2011," added Tarun. The AIRCC had approached the Dean of Colleges, Delhi University on the matter, but with no results.

"We were told by the Dean of Colleges that she had spoken to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and that no UGC circular would be considered after the new

regulations come into effect," said Tarun.

Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental said, "I have sought clarity on the issue from the Dean of Colleges and would try to resolve the issue within two to three days."