DUTA Organises Outreach Programme To Create Awareness About 12 Delhi Government-Funded DU Colleges

DUTA has been protesting since earlier this month over a number of issues, including appointment of senior administrative officers to the 12 colleges and a 'Pattern of Assistance' document which it alleged would "inevitably lead to dismemberment of these colleges from DU".

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) on Saturday organised an outreach programme, 'Jan Samvad', to create public awareness about the alleged "crises" in 12 Delhi government-funded DU colleges. The teachers' association has been protesting since earlier this month over a number of issues, including appointment of senior administrative officers to the 12 colleges and a 'Pattern of Assistance' document which it alleged would "inevitably lead to dismemberment of these colleges from the Delhi University". In a statement, the DUTA said teachers, students and non-teaching staff distributed leaflets at five locations – DU Metro Station, Nehru Place Metro Station, Rithala Metro Station, Dwarka Mor Metro Station and outside Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College – as part of its outreach programme. "People were shocked to know the kind of ordeal that employees of these 12 colleges had to face during the lockdown and still continue to face as salaries and pension are repeatedly delayed. People were strongly critical of the Delhi Government's refusal to timely release Grant-in-Aids," it said. It added that people were of the "firm opinion that any attempt to privatise and dismember these 12 colleges from the Delhi University should be strongly opposed". The colleges, which were earlier referred to as "100 per cent funded Delhi Government-maintained colleges of DU", are now addressed in the document as "100 per cent funded Delhi Government-sponsored college affiliated to University of Delhi".