Delhi confidential: Varsity Woes

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar (Express Illustration)

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar is miffed with Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi. Despite the Delhi High Court order of 2016 and the ministry’s repeated reminders thereafter, Tyagi has little to show on the teacher recruitment front. DU continues to reel under an acute teacher shortage with departments being run by ad hoc faculty for years. Last week, during a press conference, Javadekar, in an unusual move, publicly expressed his unhappiness with the pace of work in DU. After that, he had a meeting with Tyagi in which the minister is learnt to have pulled up the V-C for his tardiness.

Extra Hands

With conservation gaining traction in Indian Railways, the policymakers have decided to get additional hands for the job across India. Retired personnel with an affinity for railway heritage will be engaged for assisting staff at various zones. At a per-day payment of Rs 1200 for their services, they can be engaged for six months at stretch and at a time a maximum 10 can be roped in by a department head. There are only two caveats: The money they get should not exceed their last drawn pay when calculated along with the pension, and that they should not be appointed against regular vacancies.