By IANS,
New Delhi : IGNOU employees Wednesday staged a pen-down strike against a central government decision to bring a statutory body of the university under the control of the University Grants Commission, a spokesman said.
Indira Gandhi National Open University teachers and other staff members protested against a decision to shift the control of Distance Education Council (DEC) to the UGC, saying the move infringes on the autonomy of the university.
IGNOU said large number of teachers and academics were assembled at the convention centre in the university campus to protest the decision.
“The academic community of the university is agitated over the manner in which Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has been trying to infringe on the autonomy of the university by subverting the IGNOU Act passed by parliament,” he said.
He added that any attempt for modifying the IGNOU Act without approval of the parliament would not be accepted.
“The agitation will be intensified to force the MHRD to reverse its decision regarding shifting of DEC from IGNOU to UGC,” the spokesperson said.