DU may grant further relief to visually impaired professor fined for hostel overstay

NEW DELHI: Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh has said the university may give further relief to a visually impaired professor who has been levied a fine of nearly Rs 7 lakh for "overstaying" at its hostel facility. Sharmishtha Atreja, a professor of philosophy at the Arts faculty, received an order by the university's Estate Department on June 14 apprising her a 30 per cent deduction will be made from her salary from this month to recover Rs 6,74,100 as fine.

In response, she wrote to DU officials to revoke the order, saying it was "unfair and exhausting". She requested them to quash the full penalty, saying she has to run from pillars to post to get the issue addressed which has put financial burden on her. The Disability Rights Funds (DRF), a global disability rights community which is supporting Atreja in the case, also questioned the calculation of the fine levied on her and called it "absurd".

When asked about the order directing a 30 per cent cut in Atreja's salary, V-C Singh told PTI, "We have already waived off 50 per cent of the fine as a special case considering her situation. Her total due was about Rs 14 lakh but after court's order and on humanitarian grounds we slashed it to about Rs 7 lakh.

There are some rules that need to be followed by everyone and accordingly the fine was imposed for overstaying the university accommodation. "However, we will still review the case and explore the possibilities of further relaxation," he said.

According to Atreja, she stayed at DU's undergraduate girl's hostel from August 2021 till March 2024 and was asked to vacate the accommodation allotted to her in August 2023, when her tenure as the resident tutor at the hostel ended. She said she requested an extension of her stay on multiple occasions but her pleas were allegedly denied.

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DU professor fined for 'overstay': What happened?

"When the fine was levied upon me despite my requests for an extension, I had to approach the court to intervene in the matter. I am a 100 per cent visually impaired individual and the distance of the accommodation that the university was providing me from the department where I teach was not travel friendly for a person like me. "I had requested the university to provide me a suitable alternate accommodation near the Arts Faculty citing inaccessibility issues, but no relief was given until court's order that too in the form of this heavy penalty," she said.

The Estate Department of the university offered Atreja a new accommodation in Maurice Nagar on March 15 and she was asked to vacate the hostel in 10 days. Atreja claimed that the university has been regularly deducting Housing and Rent Allowance (HRA) and the license see from the salary.

On Tuesday, a delegation of the DRF met the Estate Department joint registrar to request quashing the penalty. On June 21, the DRF wrote to the vice chancellor, saying, "Not just that the calculations are absurd, there is actually no case of illegal occupation of University premises. Hence, there is no question of any kind of penalty either. We, therefore, request you to quash such orders of penalty and salary deduction with immediate Effect."

Commenting on the Vice-Chancellor's statement, Atreja said a "relaxation" for her means the university revoking the penalty as she lives with her aged parents. "If the vice-chancellor has informed that he'd review the decision, then this of course reestablishes our trust in the institute, as then only the penalty could be quashed and a message of ensuring inclusivity will be sent out," she added.