Does the DU know the number of language teachers it has?
16 May, 2013An application was filed with the Delhi University (DU) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information about the number of language teachers employed in the those university affiliated colleges where the four year courses will commence.
In the reply, the university said that it does not have any information about the number of faculty members teaching modern Indian languages in its colleges. The reply provided by the deputy registrar of the university said that no such information is maintained at the university level. It also suggested the RTI applicant to seek the information from different colleges themselves.
However, the applicant has claimed that the response from the university violates the RTI Act as the act mandates that in case of non availability of information the department must forward the application to those government departments which hold the sought information. The applicant also claimed that introducing centralized modern Indian language courses to address the shortage of faculty would be discriminatory against non-Hindi speakers as the university has adequate staff in the Hindi department only. The central government has also sought to stall the introduction of modern Indian language courses without proper assessment of the faculty strength.