NEW DELHI: The financial crisis in Delhi University’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay College, which is funded by Delhi government, is deepening. The college has decided to retain a certain part of the salary of the teachers as a temporary measure. The teachers too have only now been paid their salaries for July. A notice recently issued by the officiating principal, Hem Chand Jain, said, “This is for the information of all permanent teaching staff that due to paucity of funds, Rs 30,000 has been retained from the net salary of assistant professors and Rs 50,000 from the net salary of associate professors/professors for the month of July 2022. The same will be released as and when the funds are available.” Pk Jha, physics professor, said, “This has now become a routine for us. We haven’t received our salary in full and other benefits for a long time. We don’t expect to get the salary for August, September and October before November. This is only happening in the 12 colleges funded by Delhi government. Never have I ever faced such a situation in this long career.” Jha is also the president of the staff association. Teachers wonder why when the college governing body has members who represent Delhi government, issues like this aren’t being resolved. “We have gone to court, staged several protests outside the chief minister’s house and resorted to all means to get our grievance addressed,” claimed Jha. “Yet we are being made to suffer like this. Teachers are now being forced to withdraw money from PF accounts to meet their day-to-day needs.” Meanwhile, Sunil Kumar, chairman of the governing board, sent an email to Jain asking him to explain why a part of the salary was retained by the college. The email said, “When the required amount was released under the salary head by the department of higher education, the employees of the college have been paid their salary for the month of July after a part of it was retained. Please clarify with whose permission that amount was deducted. It is also learned that recovery of travel allowance has been made from the employees of the college as a result of your unilateral decision without bringing the matter of recovery to the governing body. You are directed to use the amount which is around Rs 25 crore lying with banks in the form of fixed deposits to disburse the salaries.” While Kumar asked the officiating principal to respond by Friday evening, Jain refused to comment on the matter.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/fund-crunch-du-college-to-retain-part-of-teachers-pay/articleshow/94084094.cms