Over 200 Allahabad University guest teachers not paid in three months

NEW DELHI: “We have not received salary since January 2020,” said Ramasharam Mishra, a guest teacher at CMP Degree College, affiliated to University of Allahabad.

“Our contract also got over yesterday (April 30) and there is no communication from the university on payment of pending salary and extension of our tenure,” continued Mishra. “We are facing a major financial crisis right now, more so due to the ongoing lockdown. If we do not get an extension and payment of our dues, we and our families will be facing a crisis.”

Ramasharan Mishra is one of over 200 guest teachers working in various colleges under Allahabad University, a central university in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, who have not received their compensation since January 2020. The teachers have sent several letters to the university administration in this regard but have not received anything so far. They have written also to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) but are yet to receive any response. The MHRD, through the University Grant Commission, funds and governs central universities like AU.

NK Shukla, AU’s registrar told Careers360 that there has been no decision on extending the contracts of guest teachers which expire on April 30. “As far as their payment is concerned,” he said, “We are reimbursing the bills of guest faculties. If some of them have not submitted, how could we pay them? We are also facing financial shortage as the government is not providing us money. We got Rs 9 crore two months back from which we are making the payments,” Shukla said.

Work without pay

Many of the administrative decisions are pending at the university as the former Vice-Chancellor, Ratan Lal Hangloo, resigned from his post in January. He was under the scanner over alleged financial and administrative irregularities.

Mudit Singh, who is working as a guest teacher with the department of commerce and business administration at AU said that there is an acting VC who can definitely give them an extension. When they approached the finance officer of the university, they were told that there is no instruction from the University Grants Commission (UGC) regarding the salary of guest faculties.

However, the registrar has issued directions about online teaching and also demanded the course completion status from the guest teachers. The tenure of guest teachers expired on April 30, while the UGC guidelines issued on April 29 say that session of masters-level courses can continue till May 15. The letter issued by the AU registrar instructs guest teachers to complete the course through online mode by May 4 but without extending their tenure. This has caused much confusion among the teachers.

“Following the directions, we are engaged intensively in completing the course through WhatsApp, web links, and on phone and had submitted the status report to the concerned heads. It has to be noted that in view of the critical situation caused due to COVID-19, the government is appealing all the institutions to release salaries of all the working employees and not to terminate them from their jobs. While Allahabad University which is a central university is least bothered about our livelihood,” said another guest teacher.

The guest teachers are saying that the university is denying them their compensation by saying that there are no guidelines from UGC regarding their March- April payment, despite the fact they have worked and completed the course and syllabus online.

“We are appealing to everyone in the system including UGC, MHRD but till date, no response on either extension of our tenure or payment has come,” said Singh. He further added, “The contract never gets extended but every year advertisement comes and interviews happen for the same post, same people. If one is lucky, he gets through else they get terminated and re-advertisement - interview cycle for a temporary position goes on.”

Existential crisis

“Our future looks dark,” stated Anjani Kumar, another guest teacher, speaking to Careers360 . “We have not received salary for months, our experience as guest faculty is not counted for, nor we are getting an extension, above that, we have a global pandemic COVID-19. How we will feed our families?”

Guest teachers working for AU gets anywhere between Rs 1,500 per lecture to Rs 5,000 as honorarium. They are claiming that despite performing all duties of regular or ad hoc teachers, such as examinations and admissions, they still get paid much less.

Pankaj Yadav, another guest teacher said: “There has been no payment since January and no timely payment since starting due to fund and grant problem of the University of Allahabad. We do not get experience or credit score for APA or benefits in permanent vacancy. Our work is equivalent to ad-hoc but do not get the same benefit.”

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, MHRD, UGC, and universities have issued guidelines to ensure uninterrupted study through online mode. However, neither the ministry nor the UGC has issued any guidelines about guest teachers who are engaged with nearly all the universities in very large numbers. “We have also been allotted the classes and examination duty by the university. Like ad-hoc and contractual employees, we were appointed against existing permanent vacancies after an advertisement followed by an interview. Therefore, we request the university and the government to look into our matter on urgent basis and issue necessary guidelines,” said Mudit Singh.

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