AGRA: The teaching fraternity of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has resented the inordinate delay in holding elections to various teachers and non-teaching bodies, and have threatened to hold a massive protest if a decision in this regard is not taken soon. They submitted an official request, signed by 195 members, to the varsity for holding the general body meeting.
Associate professor of the department of petroleum studies, Ashraf Mateen, said if the elections were not conducted, the faculty will hold a massive protest. In a request to the secretary (acting) of the association, the teachers stated that during the challenging period of Covid pandemic, the election commission successfully conducted assembly elections in various states. They said that even teachers associations of various other universities were elected after following Covid protocols.
“The elections make a fundamental contribution to democratic governance, and suspending them indefinitely severely damages the democratic functioning of AMU, and elected bodies promote and safeguard the interest of the varsity and teaching staff,” the letter read.
Former secretary of AMUTA and member of executive council Prof Aftab Alam said, "it is disturbing that, today, the main bodies -- including the university court, which is the supreme governing body of the institution, the executive council and the academic council -- are devoid of elected representatives."
“While there are 63% vacancies in the court, 50% seats are vacant in the executive council, which even lacks a quorum to hold a meeting,” he said.
