Teachers’ body, V-C at loggerheads over non-release of salary

PATIALA: As the financial crisis deepens at Punjabi University, Patiala, the teachers’ union and the vice-chancellor are at loggerheads over non-payment of salaries and pensions. With coffers running empty, the varsity has not released the May salary to its staffers and pension to retirees.

On Monday, the Punjabi University Teachers Union (PUTA) accused V-C Prof BS Ghuman of snubbing two senior professors in the presence of other top officials of the varsity.

“On the call of the V-C office, a PUTA delegation of five senior professors went to meet Prof Ghuman over delayed payments. But before initiating talks, the vice-chancellor asked two senior professors, who are not in PUTA executive but are members of the syndicate, to leave the room,” said PUTA president Jaswinder Singh Brar.

At this, the PUTA boycotted the meeting and staged a protest outside the V-C office.

Brar said they would not tolerate such behaviour of university functionaries and would intensify their protest in coming days.

Prof Varinder Kaushik, dean faculty of law, who was asked to leave the meeting, said: “Being one of the senior professor, I felt offended and insulted when head of the university behaved in an irresponsible manner.”

Denying charges, Prof Ghuman said he did not misbehave with any of the teachers.

“I asked that only PUTA executive members could sit and discuss the matter with me. I politely asked other teachers to wait outside the room,” Ghuman said. “Even during meeting, I asked the PUTA members to hold protest in a democratic manner and maintain decorum as they were raising personal slogans against me,” said the V-C. On release of pending salaries and pensions, Prof Ghuman said they are making best efforts to arrange funds so as to make payments in a day or two. “Due to poor income generation during lockdown, the monthly salaries were delayed,” he said.

The total monthly salary budget of the university is pegged at ₹33 crore.

PUTA secretary Gurnam Singh Virk said the teachers’ body has to sit on protest every month to get their salaries.