Democratic Teachers’ Initiative slams Education Ministry’s recovery orders

The Democratic Teachers’ Initiative (DTI) has demanded the unconditional withdrawal of the 2017 Ministry of Education (MoE) directive that ordered the removal of MPhil/PhD increments and enforced retrospective recoveries from teachers across universities and colleges.

DTI leaders dismissed the recent Delhi University (DU) circular to principals dated 20 August 2025, advising “status quo” on the matter, calling it “a sham and a gimmick designed to manipulate ordinary teachers.” Professor Surjeet Mazumdar, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), said, “If we strip away increments for higher qualifications like MPhil and PhD, we send a dangerous signal that research and academic excellence are not valued..”

DTI argued that increments for MPhil and PhD degrees were granted in accordance with UGC policies applicable at the time, and that the 2017 MoE directive contradicts the UGC Regulations of 2018, which continue to recognise these increments. Faculty members are now receiving recovery notices for sums amounting to several lakhs, which the group described as “nothing short of an extortionist exercise.”