Dear friends,
I approach you for your vote and support with the solemn assurance that I, if elected to the DUTA president-ship, will surely work to build up a strong and united teacher movement by taking into confidence all the sections and factors. I reiterate my firm belief that even though we may be contesting elections from different groups, the DUTA is one and singular. No “presidential” faction alone can successfully run the DUTA to yield the desired results. The DUTA has to effectively articulate and pursue the issues relating to all sections of the teaching community. Also, as a responsible body of academics, the DUTA has to be an effective instrument for improving the teaching learning process, promoting research facilities, providing the required academic infrastructure to cope up with the OBC expansion, etc.
Even though the DUTA has to multitask to pursue all the diverse issues, the focal activity has to be to effectively engage with the legitimate concerns of the younger teachers. Hundreds of young teachers have not yet been promoted even though eligible. There are over 2000 ad-hoc teachers facing uncertain future. There are rumors of two years ban on permanent appointment. The illogical anomalies in fixation of points have not yet been addressed even though the pay scales are implemented w.e.f, 2006.
Similarly senior teachers are also facing frustration. GPF is being denied to senior teachers even thought they are eligible for pension scheme in accordance with the May 1987 GOI notification. Contribution to WUS has been retrospectively increased to 500 per month and deductions from salaries made. Retiring teachers have to shell out whooping Rs. 60,000 in order to avail of the medical scheme after superannuation.
Friends, in our earlier newsletter (NDTF) we had raised some major issues. Through this letter I would like to re-emphasize some of the priority issues. I would however hasten to add that DUTA has to pursue all the issues decided by the GB.
1. Pay scales and service conditions:
v Every pay commission has two components: pay scales and service conditions (promotion schemes, placements and other benefits). Though pay scales were implemented in 2008, their anomalies have not been removed till date. Fixation of salaries, in many cases, needs to be relooked into. In PB 3 minimum fixation of salaries for grade pays 6000, 7000, 8000 need to be worked out. There is no clarity about the date of implementation for the in-service PhD increments. In many cases wrong recoveries have been made from teachers. Child Care Leave (CCL) has been denied to many teachers and the university ordinances, as yet, do not provide for a full time replacement against the CCL. This needs special attention as many of our lady colleagues are facing hardship due to the dilly-dallying by the university administration.
v Those teachers who have completed three years in the grade pay of 8000 be given PB-4 without any delay.
v It is unfortunate that an unnecessary divide is being created among the teachers those who are eligible for promotion before and after 30th June 2010 especially when no ordinance relating to the new promotion scheme is in place.
v The point system under the API/PBAS is geared to deny promotions rather than to grant it. The focal fight has to be to replace it with the earlier self appraisal system.
2. Adhoc teachers: Adhocism in the university departments and colleges is on the uncontrolled rise. University has done little to end this menace. In every college and university department there is huge number of adhoc teachers. Yet university and colleges are not holding interviews for filling up the vacancies. This must start immediately and a deadline be set for all colleges and university to complete the filing of all posts on permanent basis within the next 6 months. There is a need to have a relook at the policy framed by university for the appointment of adhoc teachers. Adhoc teachers are being exploited and the administrators find it expedient to keep them adhoc for as long as possible, at times for a decade.
3. Medical Scheme: A comprehensive medical scheme is needed for university employees with an approved list of all major list of hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers with cashless card facility
4. Inter-college Transfers: A policy must be framed to allow the transfer of teachers from one college to another after drawing a common seniority list of various colleges.
5. General Group Insurance: The group insurance needs to be enhanced to a minimum of 25 lakhs in view of the devaluation of money.
6. House Building Advance: As we are all aware the cost of houses and construction have increased many fold in the past few years but surprisingly the government and the university has not enhanced the house building advance which has a ceiling of 7.5 lakhs. Many of our young colleagues are borrowing from the market/banks to build their houses at a higher rate of interest. HBA must be increased to a minimum of 50lakhs at a reasonable rate of interest to provide housing to these young teachers.
7. Infrastructure and Research Grants in Colleges: Lack of infrastructure in terms of proper classrooms, laboratories, tutorial rooms is plaguing the teaching in colleges and departments. Proper and adequate teachers taught ratio is not being adhered to. This apathy of the government and the university administration is degrading the educational standards of Delhi University. There is an urgent need to increase the infrastructure and provide proper facilities for a holistic teaching-learning process. There is a need to create a central research facility both at the North and the South campus for college teachers, in addition to proper research grant and research facilities at the college level.
8. Reserve Teaching Positions: The reserve posts belonging to SC/ST/OBC/PH are not being filled by the colleges and the university. We demand that these posts be filled as per the roster without any further delay.
9. Provident Fund Issue: the 8% cap on the PF interest defies all logic of the statutory PF rules. In many colleges and the university the PF committee does not has the elected subscriber representatives as per the provisions of the PF Act. The university must take the corrective measures in this regard and the earnings be distributed among subscribers equitably.
10. Adhoc Teachers of the Computer Science Department: It is unfortunate that the computer science department of various colleges have denied permanent appointments to many of the deserving colleagues for past many years even though the permanent vacancies existed. It is well known that there is a scarcity of teachers of computer science who are NET qualified. This year many of these teachers have not been allowed to join the colleges on adhoc basis and are forced to work as guest teachers. There is an urgent need for the university and the UGC to exempt these teachers from the NET qualification to safeguard the interest of these teachers and the teaching of the subject.
11. Denial of Contribution to the New Pension Scheme in Delhi Government Maintained Colleges: From the year 2004 the new pension scheme was introduced by the central government. This scheme in itself has many flaws and is equivalent to denial of pension to the teachers appointed after 1st January 2004. After the pay revision now the Delhi government has come into the denial of their part of contribution to this scheme.
12. Full academic status to librarians: it is unfortunate that in spite of all logic and reasons the librarians of the colleges are not accorded with full academic status equivalent to teachers. This should be done by the university without any further delay and librarians are accorded full academic status equivalent to teachers. The university should introduce an application course in the library science at the UG level (BA program). The age of superannuation of the librarians should be immediately raised to 65 years.
13. CPF to GPF: in accordance with the May 1987 GOI notification those teachers who did not opt to remain in the CPF scheme till September 1987 should be automatically considered to be in the GPF cum Pension scheme. This is in keeping with the Supreme Court judgment in a similar case. For the remaining, university should evolve a separate scheme for providing pensions.
14. Physical Education Department: there is an urgent need to start a physical education department at the university level. This will provide an opportunity to our physical education teachers to achieve their further academic goals. Unfortunately the university sports council has also been made defunct. The central sports facility of the university also remains non-utilized for the university sports and activities. The university physical education department can take care of growth and maintenance of physical education as subject as well as the sports activities of the university.
I assure you of my sincere efforts to justify your trust in me. I also assure you that I will take all executive members on board for building up a strong DUTA. However I wish to seek your support for the following NDTF team:
With warm regards
Dr. Manoj Khanna
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC TEACHER'S FRONT
SEEKS
YOUR VOTE AND SUPPORT
FOR
Dr. Manoj Khanna
Dept. of Electronics-Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Science
(M) 9868348934, 9013490320
For
DUTA PRESIDENTSHIP
&
Dr. Bijender Kumar
(M) 9312403164 Dept. of Hindi-Bhim Rao Ambedkar College
Dr. Pramod C. Sharma
(M) 9810079079 Dept. of Physical Education-Kirori Mal College
Mr. Surendra Kumar
(M) 9811359362 Dept. of Commerce-PGDAV College
For DUTA EXECUTIVE
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