The main conflict is between the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) and the Federation of Central Universities Teachers' Association (FEDCUTA).

FEDCUTA has planned to file an application in the Delhi High Court tomorrow, requesting to be ``impleaded (made a part of) in the public interest litigation'' filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) against DUTA.

``We want to intervene in the hearing and also want a say in the matter,'' clarifies FEDCUTA president professor S.N.H. Jafri. ``We have been receiving letters from different universities across the country asking for the pay-scale issue to be fought on a national level and not just be restricted to Delhi University,'' he added.

The widening rift between the FEDCUTA members has worsened the situation further. The press conference to announce what ``intensifying the agitation'' would include, turned into a battle of words with Kapil Kumar of the Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) threatening to walkout of the meeting every 10 minutes or so. Members of the Jawaharlal Nehru Teachers Association (JNUTA), Jamia Milia Teachers' Association, IGNOUTA and DUTA tried to smooth out the rough edges and clarify their stand on the recently announced pay scales by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.Some of the FEDCUTA members are irked by the fact that DUTA president Shri Ram Oberoi met HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi prior to the minister's formal meeting with representatives from other universities.

A FEDCUTA statement says: ``The HRD Ministry's negotiations with DUTA alone for incorporating any changes in the pay scale package meant for all central universities is highly objectionable. DUTA is not the representative body of all the central universities.'' Accordingly, FEDCUTA has demanded that their representatives be invited for negotiations by the Government.

Relations between the FEDCUTA and DUTA have been strained ever since the former decided to give the HRD Minister the 20-day grace he had asked for. While DUTA went ahead with the boycott, FEDCUTA decided to wait and watch. Now, FEDCUTA has asked universities to boycott all examination related work.``FEDCUTA is only a confederation and in our capacity we have appealed to all our member universities to boycott the examinations,'' says JNUTA president Anuradha Chinnoy. ``However, the final decision will be taken at the general body of each university association. The FEDCUTA call is only an appeal.''

Apart from giving a call for a boycott, FEDCUTA has also planned a protest march to Parliament. While, at IGNOU the examination boycott has already started, at Jamia Milia Islamia and JNU only evaluation work will be boycotted.