Nearly 30 professors observed a strike on the campus of Bharath University of Science and Technology on Thursday, protesting against the management's decision of removing 65 associate professors and professors without prior notification .
On Wednesday, the professors were asked to come for a meeting on Thursday with Vice-Chancellor K.P. Thooyamani. On Thursday, Mr. Thooyamani reportedly met 65 professors from various departments and told them to submit their resignation letters.
The professors said none of them received any official document on their resignation. The Vice-Chancellor, they said, simply told them that the high ratio of teachers as compared to a rather low percentage of students was the reason for this decision. With a month-long notification along with a month's pay, these 65 professors have been asked to resign.
S. Thyagaraj, the Director of the University, however, had a different story to tell. “According to the norms revised by the UGC in 2010, every professor must teach a minimum of 42 hours per week. Several of the professors were not fulfilling that. Warning letters had been issued to them and then they were asked to leave.”
Ironically, in the previous semester, all the professors had signed a ‘willingness certificate' in April, a confirmation stating that no member of the staff can leave his position during a semester.
