New Delhi: In all, 1,600 teaching and non-teaching staff belonging to 12 Delhi University Colleges funded by the Delhi government are at the receiving end due to the alleged "indifferent attitude" of the Union Education Ministry and the Delhi government as they are not receiving their salaries, health benefits, arrears and other facilities due to fund crunch.
“They are not receiving salaries for the past three or two months due to paucity of funds. We aren't able to avail medical facilities as hospitals refuse to treat us because of fund issues,” Devendra Sharma, president of Delhi University Karmachari Union (DUKU), told ETV Bharat.
Narrating the plight of the staff, Sharma said, “It is very pathetic and painful for us that if an employee retires, he/she does not get dues on time because of ongoing fund crunch issues.” Notably, non-teaching staff of these colleges have been holding protests at the college level. Recently, they staged a demonstration in front of the varsity gate.
Reportedly, over 1,600 teaching and non-teaching staff are associated with these 12 colleges and are facing several problems due to irregular salaries. Surender Sondhi, associate professor, Keshav Mahavidyalay, said, “We are working in a Delhi University College, but don’t get salary on time which is very unfortunate for us. Teaching and non-teaching staff are dependent on their monthly pay to fulfil day-to-day needs, but we have to wait two to three months for our salary.”
It may be noted that Delhi Higher Education Minister Atishi, in December, wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan regarding this issue and raised concerns about the functioning of 12 Delhi government-funded colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi.
In her letter, she, at that time, proposed two options for consideration: either the Central government hand over complete control of these colleges to the Delhi government’s state universities or provide full funding to take charge of colleges.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Amit Singh, executive of the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), said this fund crunch problem started in 2019, and earlier things were running smoothly. “The situation became worse during the Covid pandemic as several college staff had not received their salaries for several months at that time and medical facilities. While several employees became defaulters as they did not repay their loans due to unavailability of salaries,” said Singh.
“We have been staging protests at various colleges to raise our voices. On Tuesday, Aditi Mahavidyalaya Teachers Association (AMTA) held a protest on the salary issue,” Singh pointed out. The non-teaching staff from these colleges on Wednesday staged a protest to raise their voice demanding a permanent solution to the issue. When ETV Bharat contacted Bhupesh Chaudhary, Director of Higher Education, Delhi, at his office, he refused to comment on the issue.
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