DUTA holds candlelight march against UGC move

The Delhi University Teachers' Association today took out a candlelight march outside the University Grants Commission (UGC) headquarters at ITO in protest against a March 5 UGC/MHRD circular instructing colleges and universities to make department-wise roster instead of the current system where the University/college is taken as a unit.

The teachers raised slogans demanding that the circular be withdrawn.

According to the circular issued by the UGC, all the universities, colleges and other grant-in-aid institutions and centres should prepare roster system keeping the Department / Subject as a unit for all levels of teachers as applicable.

The circular also said that the department-wise roster should be applied to the total number of posts in each of the categories - Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor -- within the Department/Subject.

"There is unanimous agreement among teachers across the country that if the roster is made department-wise, and not taking college as a unit, it will drastically reduce the number of seats reserved for SC/ST/OBC and delay the attainment of required percentages as mandated by the Constitution," DUTA President Rajib Ray said in a statement.

Teachers also see this last minute imposition of a new roster system as a ploy to further delay the appointments process, he added.

"This is a huge setback for thousands of teachers languishing in ad-hoc positions who were hoping for the permanent appointments. This sudden U-turn by the MHRD and the UGC has pushed the process into deep uncertainty," he said.