Plight of Ad-Hoc professors in DU: AAP teachers' wing to go on hunger strike

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party teachers' wing AADTA on Tuesday announced a hunger strike on June 8 to protest the plight of ad-hoc professors at the Delhi University (DU).

Addressing a press conference here, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha said former education minister Manish Sisodia had instructed DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh not to make any appointments until the formation of governing bodies in colleges funded by the Delhi government. "However, appointments have been made arbitrarily, disregarding the minister's directive," Jha alleged.

The legislator also accused the vice-chancellor of deliberately obstructing the formation of fully functional governing bodies. He said this has resulted in a significant number of ad-hoc teachers being displaced from their jobs.

The party demanded the immediate formation of fully functional governing bodies in Delhi University colleges and urged the administration to halt the process of removing ad-hoc teachers and promptly absorb those who have already been displaced.

An ad-hoc assistant professor of DU, Samarveer Singh, allegedly died by suicide recently. It is suspected that he took his life after his tenure at a DU college was not extended. "We must not label his death as a suicide but see it as an institutional murder highlighting the consequences of the vice-chancellor's disregard for the welfare of the teaching faculty," Jha said.