DUTA slams ESMA circular
NEW DELHI: Delhi University teachers are facing heat over Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). A committee has been constituted to keep vigilant eye over the occurrence of examination, teaching, learning and evaluation. However, if any one found breaching the norms, be it student or teacher can arrested without any warrant by the state police, if they violate the clause 8 of ESMA Act.
Calling it a threat to the higher education and a “lethal tool”, Dr Aditya Narayan Misra, Former president of DUTA (DU Teachers' Association said that at the behest of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the University Grants Commission (UGC), a committee has been handpicked which will completely change the Delhi University Act.
DUTA said in statement that at the behest of the MHRD, the UGC has constituted a Working Group to study the Delhi University Act, 1922 and explore possible alterations that may dissolve the University's institutional autonomy and suspend the democratic rights of its academic community. Specifically, the UGC Committee has been asked to consider bringing Exams/ Teaching/ Learning/ Evaluation under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). This comes immediately after the UGC sent directive to all central universities to adopt CCS rules for teachers.
The DUTA condemns this vicious attack on the academic community's intellectual autonomy and the violation of its moral prerogative to nurture free thinking and democratic values, DUTA chief Rajiv Ray said in a statement.
However, the official further shared the contents of the order that the first committee meeting will submit its reports within 30 days,i.e. by November 3. “The DUTA has never exercised the option of resorting to strikes or suspension of work unless the situation has been exceptional enough to merit such a drastic course of action. It has always ensured that teachers work overtime to compensate for the loss of teaching days and evaluation duty, in the event of an occasional strike or boycott,” said Ray.
He alleged that the continuous failure of the government and DU Administration to fill up thousands of vacancies, the continuous denial of pensions to retired teachers and the continuous failure to implement the Reservation Policy in appointments have created an exceptionally unstable situation for which the Government is squarely responsible. “Instead of trying to address these issues that are integral to the health of Delhi University and the morale of its teachers, the Government has resorted to bullying teachers into submission,” Ray added.