New Delhi: Members of a teachers’ body met Delhi University (DU) vice-chancellor recently to discuss issues they feel require immediate action to ensure a conducive academic environment.
One of the main issues they discussed was seniority guidelines for college faculty. “A committee was constituted to address this issue. Over the past one and half years, more than 5,500 assistant professors were appointed across various subjects in different colleges. However, in the absence of clear and uniform seniority guidelines, colleges have been implementing different rules, leading to internal disagreements among faculty members,” said Pankaj Garg, Indian National Teachers’ Congress (Intec) chairman.
Another issue that Intec members brought up was the allocation of PhD students to college faculty. “The discriminatory approach by some university departments towards college teachers in the allocation of PhD students is discouraging their engagement in research activities,” Garg added.
The members told VC Yogesh Singh that some departments impose a maximum limit of two PhD students for college teachers, contrary to UGC regulations that allow assistant professors, associate professors and professors to supervise four, six and eight students, respectively. “Disturbingly, certain departments like economics do not recognise college teachers as supervisors at all. This is contrary to the principle that teachers should actively contribute to both teaching and research. A committee was also formed to address this issue and propose recommendations. Unfortunately, despite the formation of these committees, no reports were submitted till date,” the Intec chairman said.
Intec members said Singh assured them that action would be taken and the committees would be activated so that the issues are resolved.
The Intec members also pointed out that during the executive council meeting held on July 27 and as subsequently notified by the university on Aug 14, it was decided that three generic elective papers identified by each department would be mandatory for admission to postgraduate programmes in the respective disciplines. “However, till date, no such papers have been notified in any discipline, leading to confusion among students and faculty members. We urge the VC to expedite action to resolve these issues,” a member said.
