DU teachers urge VC to resolve salary, pension 'crises'

NEW DELHI: A group of Delhi University teachers on Monday urged Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh to resolve the "widespread salary and pension crises in some colleges". In a letter to Singh, 10 DU faculty members, including members of the University's Academic and Executive Councils, asserted that the "crisis" is not limited to permanent and ad hoc teachers as even the guest teachers in some colleges have not been paid for the last five months. The two councils are the decision-making bodies of the DU.

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"Despite the onset of July, the salaries of teachers and employees for June are still awaited. In some cases, the dues are of more than a month," the letter read. "In many colleges, the payment of salaries with a week's delay has become a new normal which is creating huge hardships as teachers have to pay bills. Last month, the teachers wrote to Dean of Colleges Balaram Pani raising the concern that the salaries of the ad-hoc teachers have not been paid in Dayal Singh College and Gargi College for the last three months.

"We have been repeatedly raising the issue of the separation of salary head of ad-hoc teachers and contractual employees from salary head of permanent ones and bringing together with the pension head, which would lead to such a salary and pension crises. But this has not been addressed yet and our colleagues are suffering," the letter said. The remunerations of the guest teachers have also been pending for more than a month in many colleges, the letter mentioned.

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"The retired teachers and employees have not received their pensions for more than a month in many colleges. In some cases, only partial payment of the monthly pension was released," it added. The teachers requested Singh to take appropriate measures on an urgent basis as the financial problems have reached crisis proportions. They are no more sporadic but have rather become systemic, the teachers said.