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On 29 September, life changed for five ad-hoc faculty of the Sociology Department of the Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) after their names did not find a mention in the list of the eight newly recruited assistant professors for the department.
The decision comes after the IPCW advertised for vacancies for the recruitment of assistant professors across various departments in May 2023. The 600 shortlisted candidates were interviewed last week, out of which eight were chosen.
Speaking to The Quint, the ad-hoc teachers alleged that the ongoing appointment process has been favouring “recommendations” and “networking” over merit and experience.
Principal of IPCW College Poonam Kumria, however, denied the allegations and told The Quint that the recruitment was done based on "a comprehensive, transparent process by a panel of experts."
The IPCW's Sociology Department started in 2017 and has been run by five ad-hoc teachers since.
According to Delhi University’s Executive Council’s Resolution No. 120 (8), dated 27 December 2007:
The resolution notes that the appointment should be a minimum of one month to a maximum of four months’ duration.
As of May 2023, there were around 4,500 ad-hoc teachers working in DU colleges, several reports stated. But the delays in permanent recruitment processes turned this four-month tenure into years of unacknowledged work – sometimes stretching up to more than a decade, some teachers alleged.
Another sociology professor told The Quint that while "some displacement" was expected, she didn't think the entire department would be replaced.
A third ad-hoc professor, also requesting anonymity, told The Quint that it was unfair for the teachers to be in the position that they were in.
"It is humiliating that after having years of teaching experience, you are sidelined all of a sudden for reasons unknown to you," they said.
The displaced teachers are also 'vexed' by people with alleged lower academic qualifications and lesser experience replacing them. They told The Quint that the recruitment was not done based on merit but based on "recommendations" and "networking".
Another teacher The Quint spoke to claimed that the five teachers missed out on the opportunity to secure a place in the department as they did not have the "connections” and "network" that the new recruits did.
"While one recruit has close connections with the principal, the other openly supports the right-wing Hindutva ideology. It is clear on what basis the recruitment was done," she claimed.
In her response via email, IPCW Principal Poonam Kumri told The Quint, "I have not received any queries or complaints from the teachers, and the same about new recruitments. The ad-hoc teachers working in the Sociology Department were there for one to four years and appeared in the open interview well aware of the fact that the interview process will lead to permanent selection out of hundreds of applicants."
The "overnight displacement" of the sociology department at IPCW mid-semester has brought in a sense of fear within the students.
While some students said that this was not an isolated incident, others were "heartbroken" and "disappointed" to see their teachers, who have taught them for years, leave the college.
"Every professor had a very unique style of teaching, and all of us shared a close bond with them. This sudden change has come as a shock to many of us, and it would impact not only our academic scale but our classroom well-being as well," a sociology student at IPCW told The Quint.
Another student, requesting anonymity, believed that every disciple is best taught by people who are "experts in the field."
"I don't think somebody who does not have a background in sociology will be able to teach us well. Now that I hear that the new professors have political affiliations, I know our discussions won't be unbiased," she said.
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