The teachers, under the North Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (Nehuta), sent an “open letter” to acting vice-chancellor P. Shukla stating that “failure to abide by the principles of rule of law and natural justice” would affect the university’s reputation.
“We are writing this open letter to draw public attention to the executive council’s reluctance to redress the grievances of aggrieved teachers and uphold the principles of natural justice and the rule of law,” a teacher stated.
Members of the teachers’ association claimed that over 200 teachers put their signatures on the letter.
In the letter, the teachers were particularly aggrieved with the promotion of some of them under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) and the incorrect fixation of pay of teachers.
The teachers alleged that during the last CAS promotions (2012 to 2013), held under the chairmanship of then vice-chancellor A.N. Rai, the selection committee “arbitrarily” imposed date of promotion in violation of the guidelines of the UGC Regulations of 2000 and 2010.
It was also alleged that the selection committee had denied promotion to some eligible teachers, violating the UGC Regulations, 2010.
“Subsequent to such violations of the UGC norms by the selection committee, a large number of aggrieved teachers submitted their representations to the executive council,” the teacher stated.
Consequently, the executive council resolved to constitute a committee in June 2013 to examine the representations in accordance with the UGC guidelines and apprise the council of merits of the cases.
The committee found “several anomalies” in the promotion of teachers by the selection committee. It then made recommendations for correction of the anomalies specific to each teacher’s case. Subsequently, the committee submitted its report.
However, the teachers alleged that the committee report was not considered, but instead the executive council, had on June 2014, upheld the recommendations of the selection committee.
“We are further shocked to know that the executive council rejected the adjudication of the UGC which was sought for by Nehu on the selection committee’s recommendations for the date of promotion of three teachers to professor rank in compliance with UGC Regulations 2000,” the teacher said.
Moreover, they pointed out, it was a matter of concern for all teachers of the university that their pay has not been fixed in compliance with the Sixth Central Pay Commission until date which has led to pay-fixation anomaly.
“Justifiably, these matters cast aspersions on the minds of the teachers and other stakeholders in the university about the integrity and sincerity of the university administration. The Nehu Act and statutes clearly states the executive council’s responsibility and authority for such rectification. If the decision is not duly corrected, it sets a bad precedent, which augurs serious harm to teachers’ promotions in future and would adversely affect the functioning of the university,” a teacher said.
Therefore, Nehuta, the teachers’ association, urged the acting vice-chancellor to convene an executive council meeting to discuss the recommendations of the (review) committee in detail, and record reasons for accepting or rejecting the specific recommendation in each case.
The association also wanted the vice-chancellor to constitute a suitable committee to look into the pay-fixation anomalies of the teachers and to resolve the matter as per the rule as was done at the time of the implementation of the Fifth Central Pay Commission.
If the vice-chancellor fails to respond to these issues raised, Nehuta president Xavier Mao threatened to visit Delhi to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the visitor to the university, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union HRD minister Smriti Irani.
The teachers also wanted appointment of a full-fledged vice-chancellor, a registrar and a finance officer of the university. The association members also admitted that alleged “administrative anomalies” have affected the “academic structure” of the university, which has been classed as a “university with potential for excellence”.
Source: The Telegraph
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