[Reader-list] DELHI UNIV: LABORATORY OF NEO-LIBERAL REFORMS

[A. Mani]

Source: PD


DELHI UNIV: LABORATORY OF NEO-LIBERAL REFORMS



DUTA Defeats Authoritarian Regime’s Repression



Vijender Sharma



A REIGN of terror prevails in Delhi University, with students,
non-teaching staff and teachers being denied their right to protest.
The university today has the most authoritarian regime in its 90 years
history that threatens teachers and others with dire consequences and
wage-cuts if they seek justice and resolution of their demands by
holding dharnas, demonstrations or a day’s strike. College principals
are being forced not to let their halls to teachers or non-teaching
employees’ unions to even hold their general bodies. This never
happened in the past. This regime humiliates, browbeats, rebukes and
threatens even the college principals, departments’ heads and
professors who question it. The regime is in no mood to learn from
history and the recent international events about the dictators’
fates.



SOURCES OF VC’S

AUTOCRATIC STRENGTH

It has become very difficult to enter the science faculty of the
university, which houses the vice chancellor’s office, even for
teachers who studied there and taught in the university for more than
40 years. The Vice Regal Lodge, the symbol of imperialism and of
India’s slavery, once the residence and office of the British Viceroy,
houses the vice chancellor and his team’s offices. It has been
renovated to give it the look of the British days when only the
servants and lackeys of British imperialism or the people of its
liking could enter the Lodge. Others had to struggle hard to get even
an appointment. It is something like the Arthor Road Jail of Mumbai,
housing Kasab, where it is impossible for even a pigeon to enter.
Before the present vice chancellor came, there was free access to the
Vice Regal Lodge for all stakeholders --- students, teachers,
employees and others --- to meet an authority.



The incumbent VC is the first to call the Delhi University Teachers’
Association (DUTA) as “an illegal association made up by teachers” and
has not given it even a second’s time for talks on any issue since its
elections in August 2011. DUTA is not only heard by all other
authorities including High Court and Supreme Court as an organisation
but also by the president of India. But the vice chancellor does not
have time for a dialogue with it. Does he think he is above the
president of India?



>From three sources the VC derives strength to function in an arbitrary
manner. First, the UPA government and the union minister of human
resource development who announces in Indo-US higher education summits
in Washington the creation of such conditions in India as may suit the
American institutions to come and open their shops here. He tells them
of the initiatives taken by Delhi University without any debate about
consequences.



If the UPA government and HRD ministry are giving full support to the
present DU administration, it is because it is implementing the so
called “reforms” in higher education --- semesterisation, credit
transfer, community college, four-year degree programme, meta-college,
meta-university, etc. The UPA government has converted DU into a
laboratory of neo-liberal reforms in higher education, suited to the
US, with the help of “trained laboratory assistants.” The government’s
understanding is that if it succeeds in dismantling the DU and
crushing the DUTA and other unions, and introduce all its pro-US
“reforms,” it can do it all over the country. The UPA and MHRD have
found a “team of trained laboratory assistants” to do all that in DU.



The second source is the failure of the judiciary to give justice and
pronounce judgements on time. It is amusing that the university
continues to misuse the judgements in the M R Gupta vs Union of India.
The university masquerades the judgement of November 15, 2010, as an
“standing order of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court” denying the teachers
any right to protest. This is wrong. The said judgement does not deny
the teachers of their right to protest. But in the absence of the
final judgement by Delhi High Court in the DUTA vs DU case which
remains in suspended animation for more than ten months now, the VC is
out to create an environment in which teachers would stop free
thinking, creating and disseminating knowledge but study, learn and
teach what the master dictates. They have to stop questioning,
otherwise “strict action” would follow for their “disruptive course of
action.”



Third, more than 4,000 teaching positions are vacant for several
years, amid an increasing number of guest lecturers. Adhoc
appointments are being made Against permanent positions and renewed
every four months. Many a time the authorities humiliate the adhoc
teachers at renewal time. These teachers are used to weaken the action
programmes of DUTA and threatened of dire consequences if they
participate in them. Despite no ban on permanent appointments by the
UGC or MHRD, the university is not letting colleges appoint permanent
teachers. Teaching and non-teaching positions are being increasingly
contractised.



STIFLING

SITUATION

In the last one year, DUTA has organised various action programmes
including dharnas and demonstrations at various levels. It has met and
sought support from the members of parliament of various political
parties. Accompanied by CPI(M) MP Sitaram Yechury, DUTA office bearers
also met last month the president of India, in his capacity as the
Visitor of the university, apprised him of the situation and sought
his intervention. But, the VC remains unmoved. The situation within
the university has become stifling and unbearable for the entire
fraternity. The rule of law has been openly and shamelessly thrown to
the winds. Emergency powers are being abused.



Over 4,000 young temporary, adhoc and guest teachers continue to be on
contract without permanent appointment. Permanent teachers are
stagnating in their careers. Promotions that have been due for the
last two years or more have not been given as the VC has not allowed
the selection committees to meet; even the advertised vacancies have
been made to lapse. Moreover, by not allowing appointments, according
to DUTA, the VC has also kept at bay the implementation of the 2006
UGC Guidelines on Reservations in all entry-level posts. This is not
only retrogressive; it is also unconstitutional as it denies the SCs,
STs, and OBCs their right to employment in the public sector, as
mandated by the law of the land.



The anomalies and negative service conditions pertaining to the 2006
pay revision have not been removed. The VC is a prominent member of
the Anandkrishnan committee appointed by the UGC to resolve these
anomalies. The committee had assured the DUTA that its report will be
out by June 2012. But nothing has happened. Six bills are pending
before parliament which will destroy our education system, and the
DUTA is opposing them.



Compelled by this kind of situation, DUTA called for a one-day token
strike and a 24 hours hunger strike on August 28 of all the elected
teacher members in DUTA Executive, Academic Council and Executive
Council. But instead of a dialogue with the DUTA, the VC imposed “no
work no pay,” misusing the “standing orders of the Delhi High Court.”
One day salary of striking teachers was cut.



About the annual general body meeting of DUTA on September 22, the VC
acted much below the dignity of his office and forced the college
principals not to let the DUTA use their halls. In this situation,
DUTA decided to hold its general body meeting in the lawns in front of
VC’s office. However, when the news of the president of India giving
appointment to DUTA office bearers accompanied by Sitaram Yechury for
September 21 spread, the VC had to bite dust. The principal of the
last college denying permission was communicated through its chairman
to allow the DUTA hold its meeting. The DUTA general body gave a call
to intensify struggle and decided to go on an indefinite relay hunger
strike outside the VC's office from October 10. A roster of colleges
was made for the participation of their teachers in relay hunger
strike.



SPIRIT OF PROTEST

REMAINS UNDAMPENED

Opposing the VC’s repressive actions, DUTA insisted that the venue of
the hunger strike would be the VC’s office as it has been for more
than four decades. The VC tried his best, called police reinforcement
and rapid action force to threaten the teachers and prevent DUTA from
holding its action programmes on August 28 and from October 10. For
the first time in the DU’s history, the VC got the university gates
barricaded by the police. These had to be removed on the strength of
peaceful students, teachers and non-teaching staff. The VC is spending
huge sums on getting all action programmes videographed.



The DUTA’s indefinite relay hunger strike completed two weeks on
Dussehra festival and continues. In the meantime, it involved various
methods and organisations to strengthen its programmes. Jana Natya
Manch and SGTB College theatre group Ankur staged plays. Parcham, a
progressive song group, presented revolutionary songs during the
hunger strike. A candle-light vigil was organised along with the
hunger strike on October 12 evening. Four hundred candles symbolised
the 4000-odd young teachers who have been condemned to continue
teaching in adhoc capacity despite being eligible.



Having faced repression and braving odds, the DUTA movement goes on.
It has also rediscovered the Vice Regal Lodge, housing the VC’s
office, the seat of British imperialism and atrocities on the Indian
people, with the teachers revisiting the Indian freedom struggle and
inventing different ways of struggle. On October 18, the relay hunger
strike was strengthened by a barefoot march. A large number of
students, teachers and non-teaching employees gathered at the hunger
strike venue and marched barefoot through the VC’s office, science
faculty and arts faculty, and reached the Vivekananda statue. The
gates of the faculties which used to be closed for these actions had
to be opened by the authoritarian regime that is losing its sleep due
to rising protest.



At the call of the DUTA in continuation with the hunger strike, a
large number of students, teachers and non-teaching employees are to
gather in front of VC office, near the hunger strike’s venue, on
October 26. They would protest against contractisation of non-teaching
jobs, 4,000 vacant teaching jobs, assault on right to protest,
arbitrary academic reforms, lack of anonymity in answer scripts,
removal of revaluation, semesterisation and introduction of the
meta-college and meta-university system, impending fee hike due to
reduction of government subsidies, etc.



The DUTA action programme is attracting other sections of the academia
and society. This administration cannot destroy DUTA or the unions of
non-teaching employees and students. This university cannot continue
to be a laboratory of neo-liberal ‘reforms’ (read ‘deforms’). If the
MHRD and the government think that through their lackeys they can
convert our higher education system as per their US masters’ wishes,
one can only say that they are living in a fool’s paradise. The
“trained laboratory assistants” do need to learn something from
history.



(October 24, 2012)

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