New Delhi: The alleged suicide of a former ad hoc assistant professor of Delhi University has put the spotlight on job losses due to the university’s ongoing recruitment drive for permanent faculty, prompting professors and students to stage protests and condolence meetings on Thursday.
According to a statement shared by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer District, Harinder Singh, 33-year-old Samarveer was found hanging from the ceiling fan on Wednesday. The statement read: “On enquiry, his cousin disclosed that the deceased was working as a temporary lecturer in Hindu College. He was recently replaced by another lecturer. He was depressed.
Worked as Samarveer An assistant professor of philosophy at Hindu College for more than five years, he was one of several ad hoc faculty members who were displaced in a recruitment drive that began in September 2022.
ThePrint spoke to university professors Due to this, about 75 percent of the ad hoc teaching staff have been displaced so far. They have alleged The process is unfair, opaque and influenced by political factors, and argued that service in ad hoc posts should be taken into account while making appointments to permanent posts.
However, when ThePrint reached out to DU registrar Vikas Gupta late last year about the same issue, he had said that the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules of 2018 do not provide for one-time absorption of the services of temporary or ad-hoc teachers. There is no provision for regularization through medium. ,
“There is no provision for ad hoc absorption. If we even consider it, it will be a violation of various articles of the DU constitution.
Professors of Delhi University have termed Samarveer’s death as an “institutional murder”. Professor Abha Dev Habib of Miranda College wrote in a Facebook post, ,His life was ruined… he was forced to work in ad hoc positions for long hours… Mr. Samarveer, who had been empaneled from Hindu College, lost his life… Institutional murder.
Another professor who knew the deceased wrote on Facebook, “He had not accepted the job of guest lecturer in our college earlier because (he) had accepted an ad hoc job in The Hindu. He told me that after 20+ days, the college informed him that the college cannot continue his service as it is not permitted by the university.”
The post further said, “I could feel their helplessness. He further told that his mother lost sight in one eye. When he didn’t get the permanent job he was expecting.”
According to professors who knew Samarveer, he lost his job in the first week of February. However, Hindu College had given him another temporary position till the end of March, said principal Anju Srivastava.
In a statement to ThePrint, Srivastava said, “We are deeply shocked to hear the news of Shri Rajiv Gandhi Samarveer’s death. He continued to be a bright scholar and was pursuing PhD in our college itself.”
“During the faculty recruitment process, the selection committee was unable to select him as he did not have a Ph.D. It is a sad fact that all the Ad-hoc Professors have not been inducted in the colleges where they were working.
“Because we wanted to be sensitive to her needs, we were able to offer her a temporary position at the college until the end of March. He was relieved of his duties in the first week of April,” he said.
A professor in the philosophy department also said that Samarveer had been offered a position as a visiting lecturer until he could find another job.
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protests abound
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held a protest on Thursday afternoon and later organized a condolence meeting in the evening. The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) Hindu College unit organized a condolence meeting and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) protested against the “brutal injustice meted out to teachers” at the college gate on Thursday afternoon.
Rajesh Jha, a former member of the DU executive council, told ThePrint, “DUTAA has been demanding absorption of ad hoc faculty for a long time but the university has not paid any heed to our demands. These professors are doing a good job of teaching and have integrated into the university culture.”
Maya John, assistant professor at the College of Jesus and Mary, said in a Facebook post“It is a fact that a large number of long-serving ad-hoc teachers, who otherwise fulfill all the criteria and work very hard for their institutions, have been displaced in the recent interviews.”
“While permanent appointments are being made through the so-called ‘open’ recruitment process, which has seen large-scale displacement, many ad hoc teachers have a feeling of betrayal as they have been rendered without livelihood…” he said.
he claimed Ad hoc professors were “falsely promised” that they would be retained, which “of course remains a hoax”.
If you are feeling suicidal or depressed, please call helpline number in your state.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)