The existing adhocism is a kind of infectious disease which has been generating almost insurmountable obstacles for the academic advancement of Delhi University for over a decade. Till we ensure the rooting out of this disease, the institution will not flourish
Electoral processes for statutory bodies, namely Academic Council and Executive Council of Delhi University have already started. As usual, different groups of teachers affiliated with mainstream political parties have decided to contest the elections and are extremely busy with canvassing for their chosen candidates. Each group and every candidate is leaving no stone unturned to attract the attention of 4,500 long-serving ad hoc teachers for vote and support. Naturally the issue of ad-hocism has been brought to the fore again. It is a form of academic slavery which does not believe that career advancement of ad hocs will do any good to the university — forget ad hoc teachers; they don’t matter.
Ad hocs don’t need to academically grow! They are only required to remain ad hocs forever. They can’t afford to marry, fall sick and go for seminars and conferences, as there is hardly any possibility for maternity, medical and academic leave for them, since they are not considered ‘real’ teachers.
Isn’t this not only an extreme kind of exploitation but also a form of violenceIJ Adhocism suits everyone who is permanently placed in powerful positions of university systems. So ad hocs are mercilessly left to suffer and suffer miserably. Ask any of them and they will tell you the indisputable fact that the kind of trial and tribulation, insult and humiliation, misery and misfortune they undergo.
Moreover, everyone believes it to be downright illegal. As per rules and regulations of Delhi University, nobody should be kept ad hoc for more than four months. All such posts which continue to exist beyond four months must be filled with a temporary or permanent recruitment. Why has this act of illegality then continued for so longIJ No political group within Delhi University has a convincing answer. What else could be the reason except the fact that such groups are also a party to this adhocism in one form or the other.
One prominent political group, ADD (Aditya), which claims to be the exclusive well-wisher of ad hocs has clandestinely betrayed them. For the last six years it has been cashing in on the plight of ad hoc teachers for its own political aggrandisement. Now it hypocritically claims to be in favour of eradication of adhocism. Even today, it is much more interested in keeping this oppressive tradition intact for vote-bank politics as is evident from its desperate efforts like threatening and terrorising ad hocs in order to stop them from fighting elections.
It is least bothered about regularisation. That is precisely the reason it does not want ad hocs fight elections to raise the issue of absorption. It in fact has brought ad hocs to a death-like situation where they are meant to endlessly wait only to realise later that they were being cheated all along. A specific point pertinent to mention is that the academic death of ad hocs is contributing to the gradual decline of the university as well.
An internationally acclaimed literary theorist and public intellectual, Terry Eagleton, has both spoken and written about the slow death of universities as centres of critique. Advanced capitalism in Eagleton’s opinion has killed dissent which, he thinks, is a prerequisite for the university to function successfully. While speaking about the decline and destruction of a university, Eagleton has not taken Indian universities into account. One can perhaps not accuse him of being highly selective in his approach, given the kind of orientation Western academia has developed over the centuries. What one can and should surely suggest is that Western idea of a university as has been described by Eagleton, does not fit into the framework of an Indian way of looking at the university.
The idea of a formal university which developed much before Christ in India in the seventh century BC, and in turn triggered the formation of institutions like Takshila, Nalanda, Vikramshila and Vallabhi universities, revolved around the integration of society and knowledge systems intending to contribute to the growth of the nation in a healthy and eco-friendly way.
Takshila holds the distinction of being the world’s first university which accommodated 10,500 students coming from as far as Greece, China and Arabia. Historical sources confirm that Nalanda University was indisputably the world class institution. It was a completely residential university that engaged 2,000 teachers and provided space for 10,000 students in its prestigious campus. Chinese scholars, Xuan Zang in particular has written an extremely impressive account of ambience, architecture and teaching learning practices of Nalanda University. Only Al-Azhar in Cairo (972 AD), Bologna in Italy (1088 AD) and Oxford in UK (1167 AD) were in existence before Nalanda was vandalised, leading to its destruction by the end of the 12th century.
Vikramshila University was established by the king Dharmapala of the Pala dynasty in the late eight century to complement the existing centres of knowledge at Nalanda and Takshila. Vallabhi University encouraged women to pursue higher studies as early as in seventh century India. Gunamati and Sthiramali were two of its distinguished female teachers who did practice what Hafez Ibrahim, an Egyptian poet who wrote Arabic poetry during the latter part of nineteenth century, said: “When you educate women, you create a nation.”
That nation-building enterprise is conspicuously missing from the agenda of Eagleton, who is preoccupied with the loss of critique from the university campuses which are dying for him due to the absence of dissent there. looking at the contexts of Delhi University with hapless ad hocs waiting with a flicker of hope for absorption, I contest what he suggests by stating the fact that university is, of course, slowly dying, but not because of advanced capitalism but on account of the pernicious system of adhocism.
The existing adhocism is a kind of infectious disease which has been generating almost insurmountable obstacles for the academic advancement of this premier institution for over a decade. Till we ensure the rooting out of this disease, Delhi University will not be able to enable its teachers and students to perform at par with global standards.
(The writer is assistant professor in English at Rajdhani College, University of Delhi)