Amritsar – GNDUTA chief has been accused of backing out of the agreement with the VC and of having presented an altered proposal to the teachers which was ultimately disapproved by the general body. These accusations are grossly baseless and devoid of any facts and are mere exercises to derail the entire agitation.
The general body of GNDUTA is the ultimate authority to accept or reject any proposal, and the President is a mere conduit between the two parties. The university authorities had handed over an unsigned piece of paper in the garb of ‘settlement proposal’ which was read out in the full house. The house where the three members of the committee formed by the VC were also present in person found the proposal to be insufficient and vague on majority of the issues and hence was rejected for these deficiencies. The three faculty members of VC appointed committee did not object to the contents or raised doubts regarding the proposals. Their quiet submission and their being audience to the happenings of the house stands evidence to the authenticity of both the proposal and the conduct of proceedings.
The draft of the unsigned document purported to be the ‘negotiation proposal’ is being released to the media in the form as it was presented in the house and I also request the VC to make public his version of the proposal. Moreover, I want to clarify that if I had to alter the contents of the draft and if I had enough authority and power to do so, I would have done it to be more acceptable and for the general benefit of the faculty members and aggrieved parties. The entire crusade of GNDUTA is directed towards protecting legitimate rights of faculty and implementation of prescribed rules and regulations in both letter and spirit. Moreover, we as the members of GNDUTA are open to any further proposals and revised documents for the general good of teachers and academics. The Hon’ble VC is invited to present any revised document for settlement of teachers’ demands.
I have also been accused of having mislead the house and to have taken a U-turn, but to my utter surprise this cannot be noted by an outsider to the proceedings like VC who did not attend the meeting. The house is learned enough and wise enough to decide if the house has been mislead and if at all by whom.
At this juncture, I would request the VC and the authorities to make sincere efforts towards peace making and genuine acceptance of demands. Casting baseless accusations, pointing fingers and efforts to derail the unified efforts sounds more of a political exercise and making mockery of the academic crisis. The true commitment and compassion for fellow colleagues is the need of the hour and can make the real difference.
