NEW DELHI: University of Delhi has directed its colleges and departments to follow guidelines on professional conduct and social media use by employees, months after it shelved its own proposed policy to regulate staff’s social media activities, saying such regulation was “not feasible”.The latest direction follows a June 29 circular issued by ministry of education (MoE), which referred to measures advised by Central Vigilance Commission, and asked all higher educational institutions (HEIs) under the ministry to consider framing clear guidelines for employees’ use of social media, particularly with regard to professional conduct, institutional decorum, confidentiality of official information and avoidance of conflict of interest.The circular also asks HEIs to strengthen preventive measures to curb irregularities in recruitment and administrative processes, including proper verification of educational qualifications and experience certificates, maintaining a centralised digital repository of recruitment-related records and putting in place a grievance redressal mechanism.
Developments at university
The university forwarded the circular on Aug 5 to all colleges and departments asking for compliance.The MoE circular says such guidelines may be incorporated into institutional conduct frameworks and brought to the notice of all employees.It also asks universities and institutions under the ministry to review their existing systems and procedures and consider implementing the suggested measures wherever appropriate.The development comes months after DU decided not to proceed with its proposed policy to regulate the social media activities of its employees.It had constituted a six-member committee in Dec 2023 to frame the policy, which faced objections from teachers over concerns relating to academic freedom and freedom of expression.After nearly three years of deliberations, the university decided this May not to proceed with the policy, with officials maintaining that it was not feasible to regulate or monitor employees’ social media accounts as they operated them in their personal capacity.DU didn’t respond to TOI’s queries regarding the latest directions.JNU vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said the university had not issued any such notification.Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University said it plans to formulate a policy on social media usage and already follows a system for recruitment verification.Dr BR Ambedkar University Delhi said it had not issued separate directions or guidelines on social media use by staff and follows instructions and advisories issued by Delhi govt from time to time, including applicable social media guidelines and conduct rules for employees of autonomous institutions.Jamia Millia Islamia did not respond to queries.
