On 5 November 2024, two professors from Ambedkar University Delhi—Dr. Salil Misra and Dr. Asmita Kabra—were terminated from their positions, allegedly due to “procedural lapses” in the regularization of 38 non-teaching staff members when they were Pro Vice Chancellor and Acting Registrar, respectively, in 2018.
Dr. Salil Misra is a faculty member of the Department of History, and Dr. Asmita Kabra is a professor in the Department of Human Ecology. Both were among the senior-most faculty members at the university.
“On 6 November, students were informed by Dr. Salil and Dr. Asmita to download all their materials from Google Classroom, as they would no longer be accessible. Later, their names were also removed from the official university website. That is how we found out,” said Prerna Vats, president of the All India Students Association (AISA) at AUD.
“The regularization of the non-teaching staff was a welfare measure initiated by the Board of Management in 2018, which included Dr. Salil and Dr. Asmita. These non-teaching staff members have been part of the university from the beginning. The regularization process was carried out transparently. Now, they are paying the price for that—they are being witch-hunted,” said a faculty member in a video who is part of the Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association (AUDFA).
The decision to regularise the 38 non-teaching staff was overturned under the new VC in 2021 and the legal inquiry was initiated against the two faculties.
“Since the new Vice Chancellor assumed office, there has been a shift in the nature of the administration,” says Shubhojeet Dey, a first-year PhD scholar in Development Studies at AUD and a member of Student Federation of India (SFI). Both Prof Salil and Prof Asmita has been outspoken in their stance for creating democratic educational spaces and academic freedom. “The current administration has been acting out of vindictiveness against the previous administration”, says Shubhojeet. The new Vice Chancellor, Anu Singh Lather, took office in 2019, and the Registrar assumed their role in 2020.
The Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association (AUDFA) came out with a statement on 10 November against the removal of the two professors. “The two professors have been targeted unfairly since 2019 through repeated inquiries. The pendency of inquiries was used to deny them important opportunities for career progression. They have suffered immense trauma, mental harassment and the financial burden of litigation and legal defence for five years” the statement read.
Subsequently, a protest march was organized by AISA and SFI on 11 November outside the Vice Chancellor’s office at the Kashmere Gate Campus, demanding the reinstatement of the two professors.
The following day, on 12 November, the AUDFA organized a Day of Non-Cooperation in solidarity with the affected professors. Multiple classes were canceled, and faculty and students came out in support of the two terminated professors.
On 13 November, students were informed that the Vice Chancellor would be visiting the campus. Despite a large group of students gathering with a memorandum demanding the reinstatement of the professors, the Vice Chancellor refused to meet with them. “The memorandum was torn, and the protesting students were manhandled by the guards,” said Prerna. “She stayed in her office and refused to meet the students, this shows the unaccountability of the Vice Chancellor and the entire administration,” she added. After nearly three and a half hours, the Registrar emerged from the office and scheduled an appointment for 19 November at 3.30pm to meet with the Vice Chancellor.
Meanwhile, on 17 November, the Democratic Teachers’ Initiative (DTI) held a joint solidarity meeting with AISA in the Press Club of India. They also initiated a signature campaign against the termination on 28 November.
According to its official website, Ambedkar University was established in 2007 by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi through an Act of the Legislature and began functioning in 2008. Questions about the employment stability of non-teaching staff were raised from the university’s inception. Over time, a Committee on Non-Teaching Staff was formed by faculty members in 2010. In 2013, Surajit Mazumdar, then President of AUDFA, sent a formal appeal to the Education Minister Manish Sisodia addressing the various difficulties faced by non-teaching staff. After much deliberation, the Board of Management (BoM) passed the One-Time Absorption Policy (OTAP) in 2018, through which employees hired before 2012 were eligible for regularization. As a result, 38 of the 70 non-teaching staff became permanent. This policy was reversed in 2020, citing “irregularities,” and both professors were subjected to legal scrutiny.
According to Prerna, the Board of Management (BoM), which typically meets once a year, met three times last year—on 5th October, 25th October, and around 5th November. Following these meetings, both professors received their termination notices. The BoM includes faculty representation, trustees, the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Proctor, and other members.
On the morning of 19 November, the day the mass delegation was scheduled, AUD suddenly announced that all classes would be shifted to online mode, and students were stopped at the gates. Only four students, including Shubhojeet Dey and Prerna Vats, were allowed to meet with the seven-member administrative body. They submitted over 40 solidarity statements from various departments, student bodies, and alumni organizations in support of the two professors. In response, the administration, which included the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Proctor, Dean of Student Services, and the Finance head, claimed that the students were being “misled” by the faculty. They also refused to comment on the dismissal, citing that the matter was sub judice. When students requested that the minutes of the meeting be published, their request was denied.
“The administration of the university was once a very transparent process. There were deliberations, and dissent notes were often passed,” says Ayush, a second-year student in the Master’s program in History at AUD, who has been taking classes with Dr. Salil Misra for the past three semesters. No minutes of any meetings have been uploaded to the website or provided to students since 2021. According to Prerna, meeting the Vice Chancellor has become nearly impossible. “We have to wait in front of her Secretary’s room and then leave without meeting her, there is no student representation to raise any concerns,” she told Maktoob. AUD does not currently have an active student body, as the last student union elections were held five years ago.
Thus, when the meeting was arranged for 19th November, students raised additional demands, including the conducting of Union Elections, reimbursement of student welfare funds, and proper distribution of the AUD Merit Research Fellowship. However, Ayush, as a student of the terminated Prof Salil, raised two primary demands – the reinstatement of the two professors and a public apology from the Vice Chancellor. Ayush still has almost a month of classes with Professor Salil, which includes 3-4 more lectures in the course “Communalism and Partition in South Asia.” With the professor’s termination, the assessment and evaluation of this course are now in jeopardy. The end-of-semester examinations are scheduled for 23rd November, but there has been no information regarding the courses taught by Professor Salil. “He has been teaching this course for the past 30 years. Even if another professor is assigned to evaluate the exams, it would be unfair and disproportionate,” says Ayush.
Another major concern has been the state of PhD scholars under Dr. Asmita. With her sudden termination, the future of these research scholars is also uncertain.
The protests demanding the reinstating of the two professors have been continuing. On 22 November, students of AUD protested in front of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) as Chief Minister Atishi Singh and Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena were attending the convocation there. Not only were the students not met by the CM, but they were also attacked by the police, who used excessive force against them. Students were detained at Burari and Kashmere Gate Police Stations.
“Since the current administration took charge, there has been a clear attack on faculty members who are dissenting, progressive voices on campus,” says Shubhojeet Dey. Three months ago, a protest was organized by AUDFA over a gender- and caste-based harassment case filed by a professor and a non-teaching staff member against a sitting Dean. “The administration not only transferred the complainants but also renewed the accused Dean’s membership in the BoM for another three years,” says Prerna Vats. Both Dr. Salil Misra and Dr. Asmita Kabra were actively involved in this protest.
Moreover, the same accused professor was part of the two-member vigilance committee whose report led to the termination of the two professors. Prior to this, two other committees had been formed to investigate the charges against the professors. The first, the G.S. Patnaik committee found no violations on the part of Professor Salil and Professor Asmita. The second committee also supported this conclusion. However, the BoM convened again in December 2022, forming another legal committee which found termed the two faculties “conduct unbecoming of a public servant” under the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules of 1964. “How did they suddenly find them guilty when the two previous committees found no irregularities?” asks Prerna. A member of AUDFA, who wished to remain anonymous, told Maktoob that almost 30 faculty members have left the university in the past 4-5 years, and 20 others have filed cases on various grounds against the management. “Esteemed professors like Jatin Bhatt and Sumangala Damodaran have left the university,” says Shubhojeet.
This situation not only harms the faculty but has seriously affected the academic rigor of the institution. The NIRF ranking of AUD in 2016 was 96, but in 2023, the university did not even make it to the top 200 institutions in India. “This issue should be seen as part of the broader attack on scientific temperament and democratic institutions that has been happening across the country,” says Ayush.
In addition, non-academic and cultural activities on campus have also suffered. Multiple fests have been canceled, and various student societies have not been receiving sufficient funds, says Shubhojeet. “However, the political dynamism of the campus remains intact. The intensity of the protests for the reinstatement of the professors and the welfare of the students is a testament to this,” he adds.
