Faculty members at Dr BR Ambedkar University in Delhi alleged that they face “targeted harassment.”
In the memorandum released on August 17, the university’s faculty association said that the university has faced a “consistent downward trajectory” in the past few years.
An AUDFA statement on Thursday said: “Since 2020, applications to AUD’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes have shrunk alarmingly. Interdisciplinary PG programmes that consistently received over 400 applications now receive only a few dozen applications.”
The statement noted that in 2016, the university was listed in the National Institutional Ranking Framework among the top 100 universities in the country. However, as per the latest rankings, it was not even among the top 200.
The letter was signed by 12 contractual staff members.
The faculty members also allege that AUD management broke the existing long-term contract in 2022 and handed short-term 6-month contracts with reduced salary and benefits.
The faculty association said that the university had not notified service rules, which led to a lack of clarity for professors. It also alleged that faculty members are regularly denied no-objection certificates for academic activities or for visas.
“Carrying out external projects has become so cumbersome that faculty members are giving up research opportunities to save themselves from the red tape,” read the memorandum.
The university’s press relations office, however, said the administration follows the university Act, statutes and ordinances, The Indian Express reported.
