The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) elections were held on November 26, Friday and the results were declared on November 27, Saturday. This time, the university’s teachers have set a new precedent by electing AK Bhagi as the president.
Dr AK Bhagi is a professor at Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, and is a member of the right-wing teachers’ group- National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF). Bhagi won defeating the Left-aligned Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) candidate, Abha Dev Habib, by over 1,000 votes for the president’s post.
After almost 24 years, a candidate of the RSS-affiliated National Democratic Teachers’ Front has been elected to the post of president of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association. The DUTA president post was last won by the NDTF in 1997 and then Shri Ram Oberoi was its candidate, and after that, till this latest election, the post was either held by the Left affiliated Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) or the Congress-backed Academics for Action and Development (AAD).
So why is the victory of NDTF associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh significant? What message has this victory sent to college teachers and students? What is the NDTF’s vision for ensuring simple access to undergraduate and postgraduates? OpIndia spoke to Professor Ajay Kumar Bhagi, the new Chairman of DUTA, to find out answers to these simple questions. In the course of the conversation, some interesting facts were shared by the professor which shed light on how the Congress-Left, as well as the Aam Admi Party, have been using the education sector to play petty politics.
Below is the conversation OpIndia had with professor AK Bhagi. ‘Q’ denotes the questions we asked the professor while ‘A’ denotes his responses.
Q: NDTF has won the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) elections after 24 years, how do you perceive it?
A: We were elected president of the DUTA in 1997. There are numerous other elections in Delhi University, in addition to the election of the President of DUTA. Between 1997 and 2021, the NDTF has won the election for the post of Executive Council five times. In the last four of these five elections, all of the candidates put forth by the NDTF have won.
Apart from the DUTA Executive Council, we have also nominated victorious candidates in the Academic Council elections for the last four years. Whether it’s the Delhi University Executive Council or the Academic Council, both are essential statutory bodies.
In the Delhi University Court Executive Council election held in March this year, NDTF’s Monica Arora had a landslide victory. Besides, Rajesh Gogna, Naresh Beniwal, and Suryaprakash Khatri have all won the Delhi University Court Executive Council elections in the past. No one has ever lost.
Overall, the National Democratic Teachers Front has always been a key pillar in Delhi University’s system of teacher representation. The candidates of the NDTF or their supporters have won every election to the Executive Council held through the Court or Court membership.
In terms of numbers, the NDTF has also missed the presidential election on multiple occasions by a razor-thin margin. The politics underlying it, on the other hand, are fascinating. The other factions have occupied the office through coalition/support politics, however, the NDTF has always run for the president alone, with the exception of one time.
Coalition politics against NDTF
Q: When the rest of the factions engage in coalition politics even at the university-level elections, who is their biggest threat?
A: The NDTF has always been a one-man show when it comes to elections. In contrast, practically every party has the same goal: to defeat the NDTF. In fact, the 2019 DUTA presidential election exemplifies this.
Both the Congress-backed INTEC (Indian National Teachers Congress) and the AAD (Academics for Action and Development), which supported the Congress’ ideology, did not field a candidate in the 2019 DUTA elections. Everyone voted for the same left-wing candidate. They all knew that they couldn’t win if they went up against NDTF solo. In 2017, Congress used the same strategy.
One should understand the dynamics that have led to the Left or Congress trying to gain control of DUTA’s presidential position by indulging in alliance politics. The Executive Council is an important statutory body at the University of Delhi. The NDTF earned the largest margin of victory in the DUTA Executive Council election in February 2021. This isn’t only about the year 2021. NDTF has won four consecutive DUTA Executive Council elections: in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. What’s more striking is that the Left party has lost thrice and the Congress lost once.
The win of the NDTF for the position of DUTA President is unquestionably significant. The real news is that the Left, which had been defeated in the Executive Council elections three times (in 2017, 2019, and 2021), also lost the presidential election this time. It’s also worth noting that the Left had won the DUTA Presidentship in 2019 with the support of all the parties’ backed factions, including the Congress. They have never won on their own merits, and this is what is interesting.
Leftists are orthodox and fascists
Q: The presidential victory is being interpreted by DUTA, an organisation of the so-called left-leaning liberals, as a victory for the ‘nationalist’ NDTF. They play with words to create a fascist image without saying it in so many words. What is your take on this?
A: They seek to label us as fascists or orthodox by using the term “right-winger” to characterise us. The truth is that the Left is orthodox, fascist, and undemocratic in its own right. On the ground, the Left is anti-democratic, contrary to popular perceptions of Western ideology. Democracy is being suppressed anywhere they are in power. They advocate one-party administration. In fact, those they try to dismiss as right-wing, nationalist, or orthodox are, in truth, democracy’s true watchdogs.
According to our eastern ideology, which is in stark contrast to the western ideology, what is obvious is that the Left is not at all tolerant. The Left lacks the ability to research, comprehend, or debate any issue openly. They demonstrate in society that leftists follow Western ideology while claiming to be tolerant. What, on the other hand, is the truth? Their truth is that what lies beyond their comprehension is unique… Fascists, it’s all a waste of time.
The left-wing extremist mentality can be understood simply by analysing how willingly they protest against their own country in order to make their point. On the contrary, we hold dharna/demonstrations for our demands (that too in conjunction with the issue) but that too is limited. We never go overboard, and we never go against our country.
New Education Policy 1986 Vs National Education Policy 2020
Q: Every district of the country should have a centrally funded college affiliated with a central university. This is how you see things. What’s your rationale behind it?
A: The New Education Policy (not the law, but the guidelines) was introduced in 1986. It went into effect in 1992. The possibility of spending up to 6 per cent of GDP was indicated in such policy. However, it has only reached 4.3 per cent so far. The vision of the central government establishing universities was likewise mentioned. The central government envisioned that there would be two types of colleges under these universities. Firstly, affiliated colleges- which are affiliated with either any state or central university and secondly, autonomous colleges, which meant that the colleges would be pushed to progressively convert into autonomous colleges. As a result, the total number of autonomous colleges in the country climbed to 600 from 20 at the time.
DUTA, as well as certain other teacher groups, were opposed to the expanding number of self-governing institutions. This demonstration had a purpose. The cause for this was the shift toward a self-funded, self-governing college paradigm. But, in a country like India, is the self-funded model for higher education appropriate? Will this concept prove to be beneficial in a country where mostly first-generation students attend higher education? This was the whole point of the protest.
The idea of an affiliated college, which originated with the 1986 New Education Policy, resulted in the establishment of thousands of private colleges across the country. Many private colleges ranging from engineering to professional and medical colleges have opened up since then. Many private universities have also opened. Many universities have stayed affiliated for the sole purpose of distributing degrees. The concept of research and education has come to an end in such universities.
Basically, the 1986 New Education Policy has pushed for affiliated college/affiliated university/self-funded models. Before, there used to be only constituent colleges. These were affiliated with and supported by the government’s central universities. All such Constituent Colleges that existed prior to 1986 are still operational, however, none have opened after that.
Apart from that, if the state government wants to set up a college at its level or link it with a university, it will have to fund it itself.
The policy also stated that it was not the job of the central government to open or finance graduate level colleges. It was said in that policy to limit the central government to opening and funding only universities (postgraduate, PhD, MPhil, research centres etc.).
This is the reason why all undergraduate institutions (liberal arts, general science, commerce, and so on) established in any state after 1986 are either state-supported or privately sponsored. After 1986, Delhi University opened up 12 such colleges, all of which are fully sponsored by the Delhi government. It, however, opened no new universities after 1998. The reason for this was that the state government was hesitant to fund the universities that came under the purview of central universities.
The concept of Constituent College was reintroduced in the National Education Policy of 2020. Under this new policy, all the single-subject institutions (distributing B.Ed. and LLB degrees) will be phased out and replaced with multi-disciplinary colleges.
The country will have a better alternative if the central government works on the concept of Constituent College as part of the National Education Policy 2020. Universities are strewn across the city. Students will not need to rush to Delhi if 4-5 centrally sponsored colleges (undergraduate level – for liberal arts, general science, commerce, etc.) are established within each central university.
This is the model used by all of the country’s publicly funded colleges. The state government also opened its own sponsored colleges based on the same idea. The central government started and the state govt followed suit and like this, the numbers grew with time. The goal, however, is to establish such institutions in each of the country’s districts. My goal is to make higher education more widely available.
The definition of AAP: creating false promises, turning education into a business
Q: This question is political rather than an academic one. Every Aam Aadmi Party-backed teacher candidate lost in the DUTA election. Why is that?
A: In terms of higher education, the Aam Aadmi Party’s position is unclear. The Delhi government promised to open 20 new government institutions, meaning colleges with low tuition prices, but not a single one has been built.
Secondly, the Aam Aadmi Party attempted to alter the funding paradigm for Delhi University’s currently operational colleges. These colleges were told that they needed to move to a self-financing model. These colleges’ budgets have been reduced numerous times. The AAP has a plan to link the salary to the students’ fees. Delhi University’s professors are extremely aware of these issues.
Thirdly, the AAP government is attempting to split Delhi University. It intends to separate the Delhi University’s College of Arts and link it to Ambedkar University. The teachers at Delhi University have rejected this coup to break the university because this isn’t his first time doing something like this. NSIT had previously been converted to NSUT, snatching away the DU’s engineering college. They’ve now turned their attention to the College of Arts. People’s suspicions have grown stronger as a result of this.
This mistrust is so profound that professors believe they should not even try to separate the 12 Delhi University colleges that are fully funded by the Delhi government. Since these are Constituent institutions, the AAP administration will not be allowed to do the same thing with them as they did with the NSIT.
Fourthly, the AAP government had promised to build new buildings for two female colleges (Sister Nivedita College and Aditi College) in Delhi. It had also said that the facilities within the colleges would be improved. The AAP government has, however, forgotten about these pledges. Even before the Delhi government came to power in 2014, the buildings of 12 fully-funded Delhi government colleges that are part of DU were the same, and they are still the same now. All of these are housed in an ancient building that hasn’t been updated in any way.
Furthermore, the AAP government has reduced the salaries, funds and grants of these colleges drastically. Not only this but there are delays in the disbursement of the salaries of the professors teaching here. All these issues have enraged the Delhi University professors. This is why the AAP-backed teachers’ union was overwhelmingly defeated in the DUTA elections.
DUTA Chairman and NDTF Objectives
Q: The last question is about NDTF’s ideology. Some of the objectives mentioned on the NDTF website are, (i) creating an intellectual environment (ii) free discussion on subjects of national importance (iii) promoting the spirit of nationalism, democracy and patriotism in the university community. What are your plans for achieving these goals as President of DUTA?
A: All of these topics are vital to every Indian person. When we go out among the people as educators, we see that acceptance of these points is growing in every region. NDTF is an organisation of educationists that works not only for the interests of teachers but also at the level of ideology and contesting the election of DUTA is one of them.
As a president of DUTA, it will be my responsibility to fight for all sections of teachers irrespective of their political persuasions or ideologies. I will work on the concerns of Delhi University teachers, protect their interests and promote the welfare of education. These will be the goals and objectives of DUTA.
Along with this, it will be ensured that DUTA’s platform is not misused as it was by the previous leadership of the Left that had created a negative environment by sidelining the issues of teachers and focusing on issues of national politics. The Delhi University teachers were well aware of the Left’s exploitation of the DUTA forum and the victory of NDTF is proof of this. This platform will henceforth only be utilised in accordance with DUTA’s constitution, thus there is no possibility of it being abused. This is going to be a major shift. This platform will purely be used to discuss problems concerning education and teachers. It will also focus on payment of regular salaries, pension, allowances and arrears to the teachers and employees of 12 fully-funded Delhi government colleges that are part of DU.
Education is and always will be a national subject. We will discuss its expansion in addition to the issue of saving government-funded institutions. The reason for this is that more than half of the students in higher education from the first generation come from an economically deprived background. As a result, efforts to create self-supporting institutions will be resisted.
Other than education, the issue of teachers will be linked to civic interests and their rights. There should be no infringement of the teacher’s interests, and justice should be served.
