A 50-year-old government college teacher says she was informally asked for an “unofficial payment” of Rs 50 lakh while seeking a senior lecturer position at Delhi University. A claim she refuses to file formally because she wants to remain in the system and fears retaliation.
A Delhi University teacher-activist we spoke with, who also requested anonymity, says such concerns are widely discussed but rarely reported because there is no paper trail.
The bigger worry, she warns, concerns academics: the fear and opacity surrounding recruitment may be slowly hollowing out the quality of teachers in publicly-funded institutions.
Across staff rooms in the university, hiring teaching staff has become one of those topics that people discuss only after looking over their shoulder.
There is no dearth of pride in the university; most faculty members speak passionately about its academic ecosystem. However, when the talk is about teacher recruitment, the mood changes dramatically. Teachers describe a sense of unease, one that is not loud enough to become a scandal, but persistent enough to shape behaviour.
“DU interviews have become a sham. Here candidates enter interviews unsure of what to expect and leave unsure of whether merit alone will decide their fate. There is a growing hesitation, an unwillingness to file a complaint even when something feels amiss. And this here is the core of the problem,” says Meenakshi Atwal, who had interviewed for such a position in 2024.
It is not just about alleged malpractice. It is about the silence it creates that needs to be addressed before it is too late.
DUTA member and long-time activist Abha Dev puts the evolution of faculty concerns in context. She explains that, years ago, the only recurring criticism was “inbreeding.” Here, departments preferred to hire their own former students. But even that, she says, came with a silver lining.
In her words, “There was a time when most of our teachers were trained in places like DU, Jawaharlal Nehru University, or even Allahabad University. So even if a student was picked by their supervisor’s department, their academic grounding was solid. No one questioned their competence.”
That sense of security, she believes, has weakened over the years.
She adds, “What we hear now, albeit informally, is different. People whisper about money being asked for certain posts. There is no evidence, no complaints, nothing that holds up in the enquiry. It’s all rumours at the end of the day. And yet the very fact that such rumours exist tells you how the academic climate has changed in university and in India.”
It’s not the allegations themselves but the collective discomfort around them that alarms her.
The structure of DU’s teacher selection committee has undergone changes over the years.
Under the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, a typical selection committee for assistant professors includes:
For associate professors and professors, the committees are even more structured, with more external experts nominated by the university.
These reforms were intended to curb departmental favouritism and bring in much-needed transparency. But faculty members say the outcome on the ground feels more complicated.
Miranda House lecturer Manasi Mishra echoes this: “Now there’s a mandatory external expert. On paper, this should reduce bias, but many teachers feel it has created new power centres nobody understands.”
What unsettles faculty most is the lack of rotation. Selection panels often remain the same across multiple appointments, leading to a perception (which may or may not be fair) that decisions rest with a small, tightly held group.
“This amplifies the fear of speaking up. If the same panel will judge you for a promotion later, why risk antagonising them today?” asks Mishra.
This year alone, several Delhi University colleges saw protests led by DUTA and individual faculty groups. Issues ranged from:
3. Complaints about lack of transparency in interview proceedings
4. Concerns over panel composition
Yet, despite street-level demonstrations, very few formal complaints about alleged corruption exist. That contradiction, protest without documentation, is what confuses many outsiders.
Rohit Singh, an assistant professor at a Delhi University college (South Campus) puts it simply: “Filing a formal complaint requires naming names, submitting documents, and navigating committees that take months or years. Most candidates do not want to risk their workplace relationships or their career progression.”
So the protests become expressions of anxiety, and not allegations that can be adjudicated.
One of the most striking observations from faculty members is about the shifting perception of academic leadership.
Abha Dev puts it starkly: “Private universities once took pride in hiring from DU, JNU, and other Ce
ntral universities because they knew the academic foundation was strong. If the present climate causes even a small decline in that confidence, it hurts everyone; the teachers, the students, and worse, the entire system.”
Administrators at private universities have confirmed this, off the record, that they now rely heavily on younger faculty with foreign degrees or specialised training, not because DU talent has diminished, but because the hiring climate has become unpredictable.
Quality, in academia, is not just about brilliance. It is about stability. And DU, many fear, is losing that stability in perception, even if not in fact.
They may not feel the backstory, but students too feel the effects of attending fewer electives, or facing the brunt of delayed evaluation cycles. There is also a possibility of reduced mentoring hours.
Delhi University remains one of India’s strongest intellectual institutions. Its alumni base, research output, and community networks are unmatched. The concerns raised by aspiring candidates are not a condemnation of the university but a call to protect what makes DU exceptional.
Every teacher interviewed emphasised the same point: they want DU to thrive.
The “quiet crisis”, then, is not about the alleged wrongdoing, but it is about uncertainty. And academic ecosystems do not flourish in uncertainty.
