Delhi University holds elections to key councils

New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) Around 34 teachers are contesting Friday's elections for seats to Delhi University's Academic Council while five are in the fray for Executive Council seats to represent the fraternity of about 8,000 teachers.

The councils are deemed crucial bodies in the university of about 75 colleges for administrative as well as policy decisions.

Of 34 candidates, 26 will form the Academic Council after elections, while of the five teachers aspiring for a position in the Executive Council, only two will become members.

'This is a very important time for the teaching fraternity,' President of Delhi University Teacher's Association (DUTA) Aditya Narayan Misra told IANS.

'Teachers are now content with the long awaited pay hike instituted by the Human Resource Development Ministry,' Misra added, referring to how teachers who initiated a strike Monday demanding a pay hike had simmered down.

Wooing over 500,000 higher educators across the country in an election year, the central government Dec 15 had approved the proposal of a teacher's committee, which suggested enhancement of teacher's salary by nearly 70 percent excluding other emoluments.

According to the approved recommendation, the HRD ministry has decided to retain only three designations in colleges and universities, assistant professors, associate professors and professors from now on.

Those currently in posts of lecturers and readers would remain unaffected until the employees of these posts get promotion to the post of associate professors following the established norms of UGC.

Some teachers were of the opinion that the election process to the council was not transparent and needed to be reviewed.

'It's now widely accepted that if a junior level reader or professor does not butter up seniors, they won't get elected,' a teacher said requesting anonymity.

Dismissing the notion, Misra said the allegations of non-transparency are 'attempts at useless politics. There is absolute clarity in the elections, they are fair and unbiased.'

The results for the elections are due Saturday.