GAYA: In a sweeping action, Magadh University vice chancellor Arvind Kumar on Monday issued orders for the demotion of 836 professor and readers to the post of lecturers.
Addressing mediapersons at the university office on Monday, the VC said the demotions have been made on the directive of HRD department.
These teachers, according to the VC, were given promotion in violation of the government directives issued from time to time.
As a consequence of the demotions notified by the university, each of these 836 teachers will have to suffer monetary loss to the tune of about Rs 10,000 per month. Not only that, the excess payment received by these teachers on account of the now nullified promotions will be recovered and the amount to be recovered is likely to go up to Rs 7 lakh per teacher.
Though the VC did not spell out the modus operandi of the recovery, sources say while the serving teachers will have to refund the excess payment in easy monthly instalments, the retired teachers will have to refund the same in one go.
As a consequence of the university notification, all but two of the 47 professors working in the 24 post-graduate departments of the university stand demoted to the post of lecturer. Twenty eight professors of Gaya College also stand affected by the demotion order.
Explaining the rationale behind the mass demotion of university teachers, the VC said that the state government did not acknowledge the service rendered by the teachers prior to their absorption while calculating the length of their service. Moreover, as per the stand of the state government, teachers who opted for the time-bound promotion scheme can not migrate to any other promotion scheme including merit promotion scheme.
Besides demoting such a large number of professors and readers to the post of lecturer, the MU VC also ordered a lower pay for the readers. The readers, who were getting the Rs 14,940-18,300 scale, have now been placed in the Rs 12,000-18000 scale.
Trying to assuage the ruffled feelings of the demoted teachers, the MU VC said that everything was not yet lost for these teachers and they can make fresh representation for promotion in accordance with the revised norms of promotion.
The VC said that fresh representation for promotion by discarding the pre-absorption length of service would be speedily disposed of.
Reacting to the demotion order, Magadh University Teachers’ Association president Thakur Amrendra Singh said that the decision was unfortunate.
The Association witll formulate its response after the proposed meet with state HRD minister Hari Narayan Singh on June 25, said Thakur.