DU Teachers to hold physical protest outside Delhi Vidhan Sabha on July 27 despite pandemic. Here's why

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) have decided to hold a physical protest against the "unexplained" delays in the release of grants for 12 colleges which are fully-funded by the Kejriwal government. The demonstration will be organised outside the Delhi Vidhan Sabha on Monday, July 27. They also added that they decided to take this step "risking the threat of the pandemic as the situation is extremely dire". They wrote a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging him to take immediate action on the matter.

Even though has been occasional release of funds, the teachers say that it is not adequate. "There's not enough money to pay for the teachers' salaries, allowances and health benefits at this point. I am not even considering the infrastructural costs here," said Dr Rajib Ray, President, DUTA. "Eleven out of these 12 colleges are facing a severe cash crunch and the delay in the release of the grant is crippling institutions and is totally unacceptable, more so in the current context, when employees are battling health issues. Adding to their woes and increasing their hardship by not releasing salaries on time is pushing us to take the difficult decision to take to the streets to protest. We believe that responsibility squarely lies on the Delhi Government to urgently resolve the matter so that we are not pushed to adopt these drastic measures," he added.

The Directorate of Education of the Delhi Government on March 25 sanctioned Rs 40.75 crore as the third instalment of grants to 12 colleges which are fully funded by the Delhi Government. In response, the DUTA had immediately written to Deputy CM Manish Sisodia's office saying that the amount was "far too less" for these 12 colleges to pay their staff. The DUTA has been demanding more funds since then and the teachers also demanded the immediate release of the funds keeping in mind the torrid times we are in. "This is an added pressure for the teachers who did not have to bother about where their salary was coming. The colleges too had used the students' funds to pay salaries hoping the funds would be disbursed in a few days," he said. "This has happened a few years ago as well but every time we have spoken up and respond with them they have released the funds. The problem has been persisting for the last year but it got really bad from this January," he added.

The order on March 25 sanctioned Rs 37.50 crore for grant-in-aid salaries and Rs 3.25 crore in general grant-in-aid — a total of Rs 40.75 crore to 12 colleges. Maharaja Agrasen College was allocated the most (Rs 6.05 crore) and Bhagini Maharshi Valmiki College of Applied Sciences the least (Rs 0.1 crore) in total. The grant was supposed to be transferred to the colleges through RTGS. But almost a month later there is no sign of the money.