Nagpur: The Nagpur University (NU) has allotted 16 periods per week to each of the five contributory teachers at its Urdu department in contravention of rules. The department has no full-time faculty since it was set up five years ago.
As per NU’s rules, not more than seven lectures per week are allotted to each contributory teacher. Even the GR of 2008 governing these five appointments states that the workload of a contributory teacher can’t be more than the equivalent post and the director/principal concerned would be held responsible if they are given additional work.
Interestingly, the NU was following this rule till 2016 when 14 teachers were appointed on clock hour basis and given four lectures each. In 2017, the NU trimmed the list and retained only five of them.
When this was pointed out to top NU officials, they passed the buck on Hindi department head Pramod Sharma who is holding additional charge of the department since 2015.
Officials said the administration has to follow what the HoD recommends. “In case the result is poor, the HoD gets a chance to blame the administration,” they said.
A former higher education official, who worked in Nagpur region, said if the posts continue to remain vacant for a couple of years and same contributory teachers are in service, then they have all the right to demand regularization of job. “The condition is that contributory teachers must not be given pay more than that of assistant professor’s first grade pay. If 16 periods are allotted per week, the workload becomes on par with full-time teachers and gives the part-time teachers right to be treated as one,” the official said.
Officials at joint director of higher education office said that going by the remuneration, the university has not done any wrong. “But, the catch is 16 periods per week. As per rules, not more than seven lectures can be allotted to one contributory teacher. It means 28 per month while the university is making them conduct 64 lectures,” they said.
Sharma said in 2016, the feedback from students was not good and thus the list had to be pruned. “But, we realized that there was the risk of teachers claiming full-time employment against the workload. Now, there is no question of any such issue as the university has decided to appoint teachers on contractual basis for not just Urdu but also those departments where there is faculty shortage. Even the HoD won’t have much say in it,” Sharma said.
He added that the number of teachers on contract basis would remain five only. “More stringent norms and higher qualification like NET/SET would be needed for appointment on contract basis,” he said.
