NEW DELHI: Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) elections, scheduled to be held on November 26, will also see ad hoc teachers contesting the polls this year. They said that the decision to contest teachers’ body polls was taken in a bid to make their voices heard.
Shabana Azmi, who teaches political science at Zakir Hussain College, will be representing the ad hoc teachers and contest for the post of DUTA president.
Stating that immediate absorption was one of the primary demands, Azmi, who has been working as an ad hoc for nearly a decade, said that thousands of teachers waiting for permanent positions in the varsity had not “received their dues.”
“Ad hoc teachers at the university are suffering a lot. We have been teaching here for so many years and the workload is also immense. We are the backbone of the university, and yet nobody is paying attention. So this year, we thought of making our voices heard by contesting the elections,” Azmi said.
The university currently has around 4,500 ad hoc teachers, many of whom have been serving for a long time. .
“In the past, there have been instances where teachers who have worked for two decades got displaced. Even though our basic pay scale is similar to our permanent counterparts, we do not even receive increments or benefits like maternity leaves and so on. This happens despite the fact that we have the same educational qualifications,” she said.
Reiterating that the December 5 Record of Discussions with the Centre in 2019 — where it was stated that all ad hoc and temporary teachers would be eligible for interviews — had to be implemented, Azmi said, “If we win, I would like to ensure that this letter is implemented immediately. We have been teaching for so many years and our experience should be counted. Currently, the future looks very bleak for the well-trained and experienced teachers at the university.”
