Lucknow: Disgruntled teachers from Lucknow University colleges are calling out the vice-chancellor’s “dictatorship” and threatening a march to Raj Bhavan after this year’s summer holidays were reduced from 10 weeks to a mere 15 days.The protest, being led by the Lucknow University Associated College Teachers Association (LUACTA), saw dozens of college staff sit in during a round-the-clock protest between May 20 and 23. The teachers put forth a list of demands for the Lucknow University administration to fulfil.Employees claim that while they have been facing different kinds of exploitation over the years, the cutting short of the summer break was the last straw for them. Union executives claim the shortening of the summer vacation was a direct result of the delay in commencement of the academic year, owing to administrative decisions not being taken in time. With the summer holidays now being used to catch up on the lagging session, the teachers are refusing to bear the brunt of Lucknow University’s alleged managerial inefficiencies.The association also said students and their parents have been concerned and students have been hesitant to attend classes given the severe ongoing heat wave.And when the Lucknow educators thought it couldn’t get any worse, a bombshell was dropped on them last week in the form of the upcoming examinations being announced, thus reducing their summer holiday duration from 10 weeks to six weeks to 15 days.Lucknow University teachers protesting. Photo: Special arrangementLUACTA president Manoj Pandey and general secretary Anshul Kedia said the union will be leading a non-cooperation movement and will keep themselves away from all examination-related activities. “In an online meeting of the executive committee, it was decided LUACTA will be launching the non-cooperation movement to protest against the exploitative policies of the Lucknow University administration,” the union leaders said in a statement.LUACTA has strongly condemned Lucknow University’s decision to hold examinations from June 20, calling it a breach of rules requiring at least 90 working days between two consecutive sets of exams. If exams are conducted on the announced date, they said, only 53 days of teaching will have been completed between the previous exams and these days.“It is noteworthy that in the previous semester, the university was negligent in preparing for the exam and instead of the 3 months-interval, the exam was actually conducted after 7 months. We don’t have sufficient time to complete the course and for the students to fill the examination form and prepare for the exam for which 90 days are usually required. It is clear that the Lucknow University administration is neither concerned about the education of the students nor of their result,” the statement reads.LUACTA heads said its members will not shy away from fighting for their curtailed rights in the event of their demands not being met. “If the problems are not resolved as soon as possible, Raj Bhavan will be marched and if a long agitation is required, LUACTA will not back down from it,” they said in the statement.“A teacher is the guiding light of the society, it is only by a teacher’s effort that the darkness can come to an end and the world can be shown light. But this is possible only when the teacher realises his or her responsibility and bears the storm before light,” they continued.The ‘non-cooperation movement’ comes as the second phase of the teachers’ agitation. The first phase was the three-day-long round-the-clock strike, in which scores of LUACTA members braved soaring temperatures to stand for the rights of their colleagues from about 556 colleges.The protest held at Lucknow University’s Saraswati Vatika from May 20 to 23 was paused after a detailed discussion with Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak and minister of higher education Rajani Tiwari, who assured LUACTA of careful consideration on the matter and requested them to bring the protest to an end. LUACTA, however, is yet to see any action being taken on the matter following the talks last month.Other than the summer holidays, issues pertaining to the “monopolised” Lucknow University Athletic Association are high on LUACTA’s list. The union has long been calling for a change in the structure and functioning of the body for a more democratised system.“The members of the sports council can only be from the Lucknow University and not its associated colleges and in doing so we have seen professors with no sports background being appointed in high positions,” LUACTA executives told The Wire.“People from humanities, science and commerce are made president and qualified physical education teachers from the colleges are not given the opportunity to even become a member of the council.”Criticising the archaic rules which have remained unchanged for decades, LUACTA is pushing for reform in the sports council. Manoj Pandey and Anshul Kedia said because of such rules, the quality of sports being played is compromised.“Khelo India University Games are being organised in our city but the A++ rated Lucknow University was not even considered for hosting, instead the responsibility was given to Babu Banarasi Das University. Forget about hosting, Lucknow University only has two students who are eligible to take part in the event, which is absolutely shameful,” they told The Wire.The hypocrisy, the executives said, is the fact that the sports council runs on the funds of the colleges but has no staff representation from the colleges. “The Dearness Allowance amount given to the players is often increased without notice and the financial strain falls on the colleges. What’s ironic is that most times the money doesn’t even reach the students.”“Lucknow University will probably be the only university in the entire state, which despite being in the capital adopts the lowest level of sports policies.”Non-payment of salaries for examination-related services provided by the teachers and lack of purpose-built accommodation for educators travelling from other cities such as Lakhimpur, Raebareli, Sitapur and Hardoi for evaluation-related duties are other issues on the list.Lucknow University students protesting. Photo: Special arrangementThe union leaders claim the LUACTA protest is not just for the teachers; students’ interests are very much at the centre of it.“Students are being asked to pay as much as Rs 50,000 in the name of centralised admission fee per subject and being directed towards self-finance colleges for admission,” they said. “Charging more examination fees than set by the State Government is driving the students away.”The association believes students, teachers and the state government are striving to implement the National Education Policy 2020 but Lucknow University seems to have a different goal.“We are all aware that the National Education Policy 2020 is an important, far-reaching policy of the Government of India and we are working hard to implement it but Lucknow University, which is at the forefront of adopting it, is actually making fun of it with such actions,” LUACTA said in a statement.LUACTA members have agreed to reconvene and plan their strategy ahead if their demands are not met, with possible calls for arrest of certain “bureaucrats”.“LUACTA hopes that the Lucknow University Vice Chancellor Alok Kumar Rai will show sensitivity in solving the problem.”The Lucknow University teachers are not the only ones making these demands, the university students have also been leading their own protests.National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) student representative Vishal Singh said his involvement in the recent protests had resulted in a suspension threat and a show cause notice.“The students’ unions have been leading a united protest for various reasons, one of the main ones is the announcement of exams starting on June 20 without proper notice,” he told The Wire.“We had exams in April and now we are having them again, when will we study? The teachers haven’t even had the time to complete the syllabus,” he added.The postgraduate student from Ballia alleged that university officials had been calling the parents of students involved in the movement and using intimidation tactics, pressurising them to get their child to give up the protest.“We have all been going through a lot of mental pressure and we’ve tried taking our concerns to the vice-chancellor and the governor but we are not able to meet them, our requests are falling on deaf ears,” he said.Lucknow University registrar Sanjay Medhavi spoke on behalf of the university and said they had taken the decisions on the exams keeping the welfare of students in mind.“By conducting exams early and shortening the summer vacation, we just want to get the session running on time, which had been delayed due to COVID. This is for the benefit of the students,” he said.“And as far as the summer holidays are concerned, according to the rules 10 weeks of holidays are supposed to be spread across the academic year. No one can demand that all of it be given at once,” he continued.The registrar claims the university has completed the required teaching days between consecutive semester examinations.“It should be 90 days according to UGC including teaching days and examinations and that’s how long it will be,” he said.Formerly a journalist in Australia, Zaina Azhar Sayeda now covers stories on culture, society, social issues and environment in India.