A day before the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association opposed the university’s move to ‘effectively’ cancel the scheduled public holiday.
Some of the colleges have also tried to go beyond DU’s guidelines to ensure a good turnout on the occasion. Maharaja Agrasen College, for instance, has asked all teaching and non-teaching staff to be present on Thursday. Attendance for students has also been made mandatory.
The teacher body on Wednesday said the university is demanding an unscheduled and “superficial” presence of teachers in their respective colleges on Gandhi Jayanti.
While arguing that the directions issued by the Human Resource Ministry doesn’t apply to university employees, DUTA in a press statement said, “The letter from the UGC on the issue has appealed to the universities to make the campaign a success, not to make it mandatory to be present in the institution.”
Denying the DUTA claims, the DU media coordinator Malay Neerav said, “Nowhere the university has written that the attendance is mandatory. In the notice put up on the university website, we are in fact soliciting their presence.”
“Since the campaign has been launched on Prime Minister’s behalf and is aimed at national progress, we expect participation of our colleagues,” he added.
The teacher association has also said some colleges affiliated to DU have cancelled all leaves for October 2.
Zakir Hussain College (Evening), for instance, has asked all teaching and non-teaching staff to mark their attendance at 3 pm sharp.
In its notice to the students, Maharaja Agrasen College says, “All the members of the teaching and non-teaching community staff of the college will be present to make this drive a grand success and will also take the “Swachhta Shapat”.”
While giving out details of the October 2 event early on Wednesday, DU committee on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan had said the university has not directed colleges to make attendance compulsory for either teachers or students.