On May 23, 2025, the Supreme Court of India delivered one of its most significant rulings since 2017 on women’s workplace rights, officially recognising ‘maternity leave’ as a Constitutional guarantee. For a former female ad hoc lecturer, this judgment, coming nine years later, resurfaced harrowing memories—offering a glimmer of justice amid lingering anguish.
“Teaching was my passion. When I was in the classroom, surrounded by my students, doing what I loved most—teaching—I could forget the pressure outside, the unjustified workload, and the abuse. But when my health and my unborn baby’s safety were at risk, I had no choice but to leave that place, my job, and my career as a teacher,” recounts Salma Rehman, a former ad-hoc assistant professor at the University of Delhi.
In 2016, at the age of 26, Salma Rehman joined a reputed college affiliated with Delhi University—her own alma mater—as an ad hoc faculty member in the Department of Journalism. For a young woman, this opportunity to teach at her former college was a major milestone. However, Rehman recalls that there was no proper redressal mechanism in place. Every decision required approval from the Head of Department (HOD), while the Principal, also a woman and well aware of the prevailing power dynamics, consistently remained silent.
“Even if you had a good rapport with your colleagues, it didn’t matter in the end. The HOD, the Principal, and the management held all the power. I was very young, and everything was completely new to me,” Rehman recalls.
The mental agony began the very year she joined the college. “Getting a job as an ad hoc is not easy. People in this position tend to remain as submissive as possible, hoping to secure a permanent post,” she recalls. As a new faculty member, she was tasked with teaching the most difficult topics to third- and sixth-semester students, while the more experienced teachers handled the first- and second-semester classes.
Exercising their authority, the management forced her into overworking extra hours, made random calls at odd times, and even required her to do the HOD’s personal tasks—the list seemed endless. This continued relentlessly, year after year, until in 2019, she and her unborn baby could no longer endure it. After eight weeks of enduring severe physical and mental distress, her doctor and family advised her to resign, warning that otherwise, she risked losing the baby.
“I wasn’t sure if anything would ever change. Many of my ad-hoc colleagues across the university shared similar stories of mistreatment. The institutional system seemed to normalise this kind of treatment and discouraged anyone from speaking up. No one dared to raise their voice because everyone was scared of losing their ad-hoc jobs and missing the chance to secure permanent positions,” she says.
Two months into her pregnancy, Rehman’s HOD made a dismissive remark: “Acha… pregnant ho!” (“Oh… you’re pregnant, huh?”), she recalls.
“There was no congratulations, no concern—just a casual, cutting comment that made it clear my pregnancy wasn’t welcome.”
One of Rehman’s colleagues, also an ad hoc faculty member, was expected to return to college just 15 days after delivering her baby via caesarean section. “I remember her lactating breasts used to drip,” Rehman recalled. Another colleague was forced to perform examination duty, leaving her newborn at the mercy of a maid monitored only by a webcam.
“At the time, the HOD said there was no provision for maternity leave beyond 15 days after delivery and showed no interest in considering such requests,” Rehman recalls. “There was no intention to support us; she simply disapproved of the leave. The sense of dismay and helplessness this caused was profound.”
Eventually, Rehman chose to leave her job in December 2019, during the ninth month of her pregnancy. She now wonders if conditions for ad hoc women faculty have improved since then.
When The Observer Post reached out to other faculty members at the university, it became clear that over the past ten years, little has changed regarding the treatment and conditions faced by ad hoc teachers.
“There is no maternity benefit or leave for female ad hoc faculty. If they need to take maternity leave, they have to resign from their job—there’s simply no alternative. This has happened repeatedly. Maternity benefits for ad hoc (now guest or contractual) staff depend entirely on the discretion of the HODs or the goodwill of male faculty members. Even when such leniency is granted, it often comes with the unspoken expectation that these women must work twice as hard upon their return as a form of ‘gratitude.’ The system clearly exploits these unequal power structures,” said a current faculty member who also serves as the president of a staff association at one of the colleges in Delhi University.
“It shouldn’t have to come to this. It shouldn’t be left to the mercy of others. The labour, time, and effort of ad-hoc faculty are taken for granted, with no guarantee of rights or benefits in return. And if any permanent faculty member tries to support or raise their voice for ad-hoc staff, they are often targeted and labeled as ‘troublemakers,’” she adds.
But something had changed in the academic space after Rehman’s resignation, at least regarding maternity rights.
In 2022, two years later, the University of Delhi passed a resolution approving the recommendations of the UGC committee to grant maternity benefits to ad-hoc and contractual staff across the University and its affiliated colleges.
The resolution adopted by the University’s Executive Council marked a significant shift. It granted maternity benefits to ad hoc and contractual staff across the University and its affiliated colleges.
Formed in January 2021, the Executive Council consisted of five members and was headed by Professor Kamala Shankaran from the Faculty of Law. The council thoroughly examined the concerns of ad hoc women employees and mothers, culminating in a comprehensive report submitted in December 2021, which paved the way for the resolution’s approval.
The committee recognised “the fact that availing maternity leave is a fundamental and vital necessity for the physical and emotional well-being of the mother and the child.” It recommended that paid maternity leave be granted to ad hoc and contractual women employees—both teaching and non-teaching—working in the University and its affiliated colleges.
Following this, in January 2022, the Executive Council passed a resolution extending paid maternity leave of 26 weeks to ad hoc and contractual staff. This decision came a month after the resolution and cited the 2018 University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines as its basis.
However, despite this formal recognition, the reality remains unchanged for many. The policy has not translated into widespread practice, and most ad-hoc faculty remain unaware of these rights—resulting in minimal resistance to ongoing mistreatment.
“What is written in the rulebook and what really happens is a different story,” says another former ad-hoc faculty member from Delhi University.
Since the resolution was passed just after the pandemic, the information largely remained withheld and unattended. As a result, the terms and vocabulary related to leaves and other benefits are vague and open to interpretation, rather than clearly guaranteeing rights.
“Most of the ad-hoc faculty are unaware of this resolution. It was ensured that the information was not disseminated. When I recently joined as a permanent faculty member, I had to figure everything out on my own. Even now, we have limited clarity on the different types of duty leaves,” says an English professor who served as an ad-hoc faculty for six years before her position was made permanent.
However, the resolution does not negate the existence of other legal provisions that could have entitled a woman to maternity leave during her tenure. The 2017 Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act clearly grants the right to a woman employee that:
“Without prejudice to the provisions of section 6, no pregnant woman shall, on a request being made by her in this behalf, be required by her employer to do during the period specified in sub-section (4) any work which is of an arduous nature or which involves long hours of standing, or which in any way is likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the normal development of the foetus, or is likely to cause her miscarriage or otherwise to adversely affect her health.”
However, even though the legal provision existed earlier, it was not explicitly extended to ad-hoc women employees until the 2022 resolution clarified this entitlement. Previously, there was an unspoken understanding between the college management and ad-hoc lecturers to address such matters internally—a process largely controlled at the discretion of the Head of Department (HOD).
In many colleges, despite women constituting around 80% of the staff and faculty, ad-hoc women employees were not only denied adequate support but were also expected to overwork, attend classes without breaks, and take no leaves.
In 2023, the University of Delhi issued a directive instructing all its affiliated colleges to cease the appointment of ad hoc teachers and prioritize the creation of permanent faculty positions. The notification cited that continuing to hire ad hoc teachers was “in disregard of the 2018 UGC guidelines.”
Building on this, in 2024, the university implemented a stricter policy limiting the appointment of guest faculty solely to circumstances where a permanent faculty member’s position is temporarily vacant due to maternity leave, sabbatical leave, or study leave.
“Now, guest faculty are even more vulnerable to exploitation. They have fewer rights than the ad-hoc staff ever did. While ad-hoc faculty were sidelined, guest or contractual faculty aren’t even formally recognised in the college rules,” says a professor at Delhi University.
At that time, Rehman also became painfully aware of the deep-rooted favouritism within academic spaces. “It’s everywhere,” she says. While she and some colleagues were burdened with erratic teaching schedules stretching from morning till evening, those favoured by the HOD enjoyed the luxury of taking just a few morning classes and leaving early. Even when their syllabi remained incomplete, no action was ever taken against them.
“Once, I had a foot injury and was advised to take complete bed rest. But my HOD threatened me, saying that if I didn’t come to work, she would have me removed from the job. Those days were filled with nightmares. Later, when I was eight months pregnant, she repeated similar threats, warning that she would convince the management to terminate my employment if I took leave.”
Rehman reflects on this bitter reality, emphasising that it’s not just a personal ordeal. The intensity and impunity with which the HOD wielded power over her make it clear that this is part of a much larger, systemic problem — one that left her feeling utterly helpless.
“I was going through a very difficult time and wanted to distance myself from that environment. I am no longer in the academic field,” Rehman shares candidly.
In conversations with other female faculty members, it became clear that the problem extends far beyond the denial of maternity benefits. “During interviews, some women aspirants have openly shared that they were subtly encouraged to give up their positions to male candidates, with the justification that ‘they need it more than women,’” revealed another professor from Delhi University.
A secretary of a staff association at one of the colleges explained that over the past decade, women employees have often been viewed as “less efficient, less loyal, and less committed to the institution compared to their male counterparts, since women are expected to prioritize their families.”
When it comes to workload, ad-hoc faculty are tasked with completing all NAAC accreditation requirements, which includes disproportionate responsibilities such as building departmental libraries, fulfilling extensive teaching hours, and attending international conferences to help position the institution as a centre of excellence.
“Yet, after all this, they are asked to leave without any benefits, left stranded despite being excellent mentors and receiving glowing references from students,” shared an assistant professor at Delhi University.
