More than a dozen Delhi University colleges have not paid salaries to the teaching and non-teaching staff for more than a month, leading to resentment on the campus and protests outside, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
Sources in the vice-chancellor’s office said the grant to colleges comes from the University Grants Commission (UGC). “The university has no role in it,” said a senior official.
The condition is worse for teachers in Delhi government colleges who have not received their wages for four months. Nandita Narain, a professor, said, “Earlier, the Central government-funded colleges received their grant directly from the UGC, but after 2020, the disbursal procedure changed.” The switch was meant “to stop the misuse of funds and ensure that all arrears are cleared.”
However, several colleges have not been receiving UGC funds on time due to the procedural change.
“We taught university students, but the education of our children is in peril,” said Deepika Sharma, ad-hoc teacher of Sanskrit at Gargi College. Like her, thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff of the university colleges are facing acute financial hardship following a delay in their salary.
Deepika said around 400 teaching and non-teaching staff of Gargi College are facing a financial crisis.
“Most teachers are in heavy debt, they are unable to pay their loans and school fee for their education. The college principal has not been able to give a satisfactory response,” said Deepika.
A similar situation prevails in Dayal Singh, Zakir Hussain, Ramanujan and Rajdhani colleges. Several teachers also complained about problems being faced in getting the pension and medical reimbursement.
To highlight the wage delay, the teachers of Maharaja Agrasen College on Friday, February 9, organised a ‘shoe-polish’ sit-in outside the college. Bhupinder Choudhary, professor at Maharaja Agrasen College, said the problem was not new. “Both the Delhi and Central governments are anti-education. On average, the Delhi government disburses only eight months’ salary in a year,” said Choudhary.