Salaries stuck as tiff over DU governing bodies escalates
The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the Delhi University administration over formation of governing bodies in 12 Du-affiliated colleges, has led to a prolonged salary crisis in these colleges. DU’S 12 colleges are fully funded by the Delhi government and since the AAP government came to power in Delhi, it has been seeking appointment of governing body members as per the AAP’S selections, but the DU administration has been reluctant to meet the AAP’S demand. This rigidity on both sides has led to the salary crisis as the Delhi government has stopped funds allocated for these 12 colleges.
The 12 colleges that are completely funded by the Delhi government include Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Science, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Shaheed Raj Guru College, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Bhagini Nivedita College, Keshav Maha Vidyalaya, Maharaja Agrasen College, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Maharishi Balmiki College of Education and Bhaskara Charya College of Applied Science.
According to the Delhi government, the aforementioned colleges are running under the truncated governing bodies which is illegal, and no appointments or development work can be carried out without forming a fresh governing bodies. The DU administration has never responded well to AAP’S demand and that has led to the “blocking” of funds.
Teachers of the Delhi government funded colleges of DU have alleged that the college staff are being unnecessarily penalised in the power tussle between the DU administration and Delhi government. “Be it Diwali last year or Holi this year, we are not being paid regularly; we have not received our salaries for the last three months, how are we supposed to work in these circumstances? We have been protesting against such arbitrary measures taken by the state government to resolve their own issue,” a teacher of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) college told The Sunday Guardian.
A.K. Bhagi, former president of National Democratic Teachers’ Front (NDTF), a teachers’ wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in DU, said: “The silence of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association held by Left-linked Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) is shameful. They are silent and trying to justify stopping of grants to 12 Delhi government funded colleges in the name of nominations of AAP party workers’ inclusion in governing bodies of these colleges. Salaries to teachers and employees are not being released. The fact is that the Delhi government is in losses and doesn’t have the money to release grants to these colleges. They are not realising that today it is the Delhi government, tomorrow it can be UGC that can stop grants on one or the other pretext. This is not acceptable.”