Delhi University's Hindu College issued a showcause notice to the president and secretary of the staff association for allegedly writing a letter to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry raising concerns over an appointment in the college's Governing Body (GB). The move has created an uproar among the teaching fraternity with many of them calling it an "attack on dissent".
The notice was issued to Abhay Ranjan (president) and Atul Gupta (secretary) by the chairperson of the college's Governing Body, SNP Punj on June 14. "I am in receipt of the mail which is addressed to the Minister of HRD and copied to other institutions such as UGC, Delhi University and CAG. Your action is against the interest of the institution and authorisation of the staff association," the notice read. However, college's Staff Association issued a statement condemning the move and extended solidarity to the teachers.
It further asked the two members of the staff association to respond to the notice within 15 days to explain "why disciplinary action should not be initiated against you for misconduct and working against the institution which you are serving."
The teachers, however, termed it "harassment" by the institution for "running a campaign against the college's decision in favour of autonomy" in April. "This is nothing but a malicious attempt to curb our voices of dissent. We are being targeted individually for dissenting administration's decisions over autonomy," said Gupta.
In the letter addressed to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, the teachers raised questions over the appointment of a former college employee on an "unsanctioned post" of "advisor" to the chairman of the GB. However, Punj denied the allegations saying that there has been no discrepancy in any appointment. "We are not targeting anyone. We have just asked for an explanation from them for writing something groundless against the institution. How it can qualify as harassment?" said the GB chairperson. Despite several attempts, college principal Anju Srivastava did not respond to the calls.
Meanwhile, members of DU's Executive Council (EC) wrote to the vice-chancellor demanding a rollback of the notice. "These elected office bearers of the Staff Association communicated the collective decisions taken after due deliberations and debates, emanating from their sense of duty for the betterment of the institution. The institutions cannot grow without hearing the dissenting and vigilant voices," said Rajesh Jha, an EC member.
HARASSMENT
The teachers, however, termed it “harassment” by the institution for “running a campaign against the college’s decision in favour of autonomy” in April.
