The Joint Co-ordination Council of Bharathidasan University (JCCBARD) consisting of Association of University Teachers (AUT) and Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers’ Association (TNGCTA) has announced a massive demonstration on December 29 demanding that the Department of Higher Education restrain the university from making new recruitments in violation of reservation norms.
Taking strong exception to Bharathidasan University’s decision to go ahead with the process of recruiting a new batch of teachers for various faculty positions even before the outcome of the investigation carried out by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) into the recruitment of the first batch of teachers during February 2011 is known, the secretary of JCCBARD N.Peer Mohamed Sathik appealed to the Chancellor (Governor) and the State government to ensure transparency in the appointment of teachers. The JCCBARD charged the university with sacrificing transparency for “un-academic reasons” and emphasised on government action based on the DVAC report.
The protest in front of the university on the day of meeting of its Senate will also highlight the plight of teachers in its constituent colleges. Presence of three categories of teachers – permanent, semi-permanent and guest-lecturers – was a mockery of the university system, Prof. Sathik said, calling upon universities to be ‘model employers’ by recruiting only qualified candidates as per UGC norms. All qualified teachers in the constituent colleges must be given UGC scale of pay, and they must be treated on a par with the university faculties.
The JCCBARD also assailed the university for “inordinate delay” in sending to the Department of Higher Education the verification report pertaining to the affiliation of self-financing courses offered by TUK College, Karanthai.
