Bharathidasan University must pay pending salaries, says teachers’ union

The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has urged the authorities of the Bharathidasan University to disburse salaries of 116 faculty and administrative staff of constituent colleges, who have not been paid since October 2023.

In a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education on Tuesday, association president M.S. Bala Murugan said the association had been time and again raising the issue of unpaid salaries of staff belonging to 10 former constituent colleges since last year.

According to official figures, 49 staff appointed on hourly basis wages, 34 guest lecturers, and 33 administrative staff have not received their salaries for the last 11 months.

“Despite the dire situation of these teachers, BDU authorities have declined payment. If the university is facing financial constraints and is unable to pay the salaries, it must clarify its position as such to the government. The university called a meeting of the finance officer, the Regional Joint Directors of Collegiate Education of Tiruchi and Thanjavur, three members of the Syndicate and the principals of the erstwhile Constituent Colleges on August 28 and decided to ‘release the pending salary’ up to July 2024. Five weeks have lapsed since and action has not been taken so far,” said the statement.

The body said that affected guest lecturers must be paid ₹25,000 a month as per the pay scale fixed on June 2023.

Published - October 03, 2024 06:12 pm IST