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Journalism of Courage
A committee set up by Delhi University (DU) to look into the operational aspects of the 2018 University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, in its final meeting on Thursday, has recommended paid maternity leave for ad-hoc teachers. The final decision in this regard will be taken by the university’s Academic Council (AC).
The 20-member committee, which comprises four principals and seven AC members besides representatives from various departments, unanimously took the decision that ad-hoc teachers should get maternity leave for the remaining term, post delivery.
“Ad-hoc teachers are appointed for four months. As of now, their situation is so bad, that some of them join work two days after delivery so that they don’t lose their jobs. We have recommended that at any point during the term, if the teacher delivers, for the period after that, she should be given maternity leave with salary,” said Pankaj Garg, a committee member.
Hansraj Suman, another committee member, said the decision was necessary on “humanitarian grounds”. “In MNCs and other workplaces too, contractual employees get maternity leave. So why shouldn’t DU have this? Considering this, the decision was taken. During the leave, only guest lecturers can be appointed, and the teacher will rejoin once her leave period is over,” he said.
“This was a necessary step on humanitarian grounds because we have seen umpteen cases in which women teachers have been removed from their jobs post delivery. Many of them are not able to find jobs even 10-15 years after that,” said Suman.
Another member, on condition of anonymity, said the committee had taken a final decision on the matter, but the AC and EC were still to ratify them.
“There are a huge number of women ad-hoc teachers in the university, and this move will definitely benefit them. Many of them delay their married life or postpone having children because of these restrictions,” the member said.
Committee Chairperson D K Singh said, “Nothing is final till the minutes are formulated, which will take another 15-20 days.”
Delhi schools to get asthma manual
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan released a manual on asthma Thursday, suggesting ways for schools to deal with the respiratory ailment.
The manual, prepared by the Union Environment Ministry in collaboration with the Lung Care Foundation, has been printed in 11 languages and is expected to be implemented in over 1 lakh schools across India.
