ABVP joins chorus of protest against UGC norm, seeks rollback

In a meeting of the DUTA Executive held Saturday, its members cited the “lack of sensitivity” on part of the government and decided to extend the boycott until June 16.

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The teachers have decided to extend the evaluation boycott of exam papers until June 16. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

As the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) decided to continue the evaluation boycott of undergraduate exam papers to protest against a recent notification issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), BJP’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also expressed its concern over certain “regressive” provisions of the notification.

“The UGC notification… has announced an increase in the workload of teachers in universities across the country, which may result in loss of jobs for thousands of teachers and may shut the door for budding research scholars. Also, considering two hours of practicals or tutorials as one hour is a regressive provision,” said ABVP national general secretary Vinay Bidre.

He added, “ABVP believes these provisions are impractical and incohesive, and demands immediate withdrawal of these provisions in the interest of students and teachers… ABVP demands that UGC take back the regressive and anti-teacher provisions of this notification immediately,” he added.

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While the ABVP said it stood in solidarity “with protesting teachers all over the country to demand rollback of the regressive provisions,” it urged the “teacher community of DU to resume evaluation work immediately”, keeping in mind the “future of thousands of students”.

Meanwhile, in a meeting of the DUTA Executive held Saturday, its members cited the “lack of sensitivity” on part of the government and decided to extend the boycott until June 16. In a statement, it said, “The DUTA Executive demands an explicit announcement in writing so that normalcy can be restored at the earliest.”

DUTA president Nandita Narain said, “We will be writing open letters to parents and students explaining the issues and seeking their support for the teachers’ agitation. The DUTA will also write to the vice-chancellor, explaining the reasons for the evaluation boycott and requesting him to use his good offices to impress the implications of the gazette notification upon the government.”

The teachers have been boycotting evaluation of undergraduate exam papers since May 24, arguing that the new norms would wreak havoc with their employment and the pupil-teacher ratio.

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