‘Curtailment of leave to be opposed’

Ranchi: Even as the committee formed by governor C P Radhaksishnan to prepare a proposal for a uniform leave calendar for all universities of the state has submitted its report, the Federation of University Teachers Association Jharkhand (FUTAJ) has stated that any curtailment of teachers’ leaves would be opposed.
The governor aims to implement the uniform leave calendar in the universities from June 1. The committee headed by Ranchi University (RU) vice-chancellor Dr Ajit Kumar Sinha was formed to prepare the proposal and submit it by May 10.
According to the existing norms prepared as per the guidelines of University Grants Commission, the universities should have a minimum of 180 teaching days.
The universities schedule their holidays according to local circumstances. For instance, during Ram Navami Vinoba Bhave University (VBU) in Hazaribagh gets a three-day holiday while for others it is one day. This is because the festival is observed for several days in Hazaribag town.
Speaking on the issue, FUTAJ general secretary Raj Kumar said the university teachers have an extended holiday to study and carry out research work and other academic activities. Any curtailment in it will be opposed. “We are trying to seek an appointment with the governor to put forth our view before him,” Kumar said.
FUTAJ ex-GS and present proctor of VBU Mithilesh Singh said the committee should have considered opinions of all the universities instead of appointing only VCs of RU and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University in the committee. He said the new calender should not go beyond the existing guidelines of the state government regarding a minimum of 180 teaching days.
Expressing similar apprehension, former dean of student’s welfare of RU Raj Kumar Sharma said, “Higher education stands for intensive research and pursuance of research requires time for visiting different libraries and places to produce quality research. A university teacher gets only 12 earned leaves (EL) in a year while other government employees get 33 EL a year.”
When asked about the plan, the Ranchi University VC said, “The interest of teachers and the existing rules and regulations have been kept in mind while making the proposal. They have been submitted to the governor.”