The Assistant Registrar (Colleges) of Delhi University has sent a circular to the Chairperson and Governing Body of institutions inviting applications for academic and non-academic positions, including principal, in colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi.
The circular issued on Wednesday evening directs the affected colleges to take urgent action to produce university-approved ads. Colleges have previously been provided with guidelines for advertising and filling open positions.
Prof Yogesh Singh, the University of Delhi's new Vice Chancellor, has made provisions to replace empty positions after the problem came to his attention.
There are more than 20 colleges in Delhi University which have no permanent principals. These are all Delhi government funded colleges. The term of the governing body of these colleges ended on September 13.
Colleges of Delhi University that do not have permanent principals are Sri Aurobindo College, Sri Aurobindo College (Evening) Motilal Nehru College, Motilal Nehru College (Evening) Satyavati College, Satyavati College (Evening) Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, Vivekananda College, Bharati College, Indira Gandhi Sports College, Maharaja Agrasen College, Rajdhani College, Deendayal Upadhyay College, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Bhagini Nivedita College, Gargi College, Kamala Nehru College, Shivaji College.
Apart from this, the principal of Bhimrao Ambedkar College is retiring this month.
Additionally, the circular said that a roster register for academic positions should be developed and approved. Following the completion of the recruiting advertisement process, the college will formally request an expert panel for appointment from the university.
The circular said that if a college employs an acting or officiating principal, immediate efforts should be taken to replace those positions on a permanent basis. Teachers have expressed worry over the lack of a governing body at 28 Delhi government-funded institutions. Due to the lack of a Governing Body, colleges' operations are harmed, and no appointments to academic and non-academic positions are made.
Delhi Teachers Association President Dr Hansraj Suman has said, "all this is happening very quickly because the Ministry of Education had in a circular dated August 24, 2021 asked to fill the backlog posts of teachers within a year in a mission mode."
According to him, "due to non-permanent appointment on the posts of principals, the appointment of assistant professors is also not being done in these colleges. Similarly, the posts of principals of more than 20 colleges is lying vacant due to non-appointments for a long time.
