Five months without pay, BDU college employees worry

Despite recent directives from the state government, more than a hundred teaching and non-teaching employees at the ten institutions that make up Bharathidasan University claim they haven’t gotten their salaries for the previous five months. The institution attributed this to a lack of funding since the state government owes it around Rs 100 crore in arrears.

“My monthly salary is Rs 20,000,” a guest professor from Perambalur said in one of the constituent institutions. Forty-three members of the teaching and non-teaching staff in our area alone have not received pay for the previous five months.

“The [state] government [in January] ordered BDU to pay more than 100 staff members of the constituent colleges their salaries until a permanent solution is arrived at and also assured to reimburse the money,” stated Dr. K Pandiyan, a former state president of the Association of University Teachers (AUT). For the previous five months, however, the university administration has not disclosed salaries. The employees who are left to suffer are behind the state government and the university administration.

Additionally, he held the state government accountable for not approving staff recruiting on a “financial” level even though the syndicate meeting that was just conducted unanimously approved it. Pandiyan expressed the dissatisfaction of the teachers over the lack of funding for their wages in the state budget that was presented last month, stating that large-scale petitions would be sent shortly, with the university vice-chancellor advocating on their behalf.

According to reports, the state government has already paid the university around Rs 100 crore to cover the member institutions’ costs. They said that as a result, there are now insufficient money, which has an impact on staff members’ compensation.

Vice Chancellor R Selvam of the university responded to TNIE by saying, “It [the government] assured to pay them [college staff members] salaries in the last syndicate and financial committee meeting convened in the presence of higher education department officials.” Nonetheless, not even in its most recent budget were any monies allotted.

Principal Secretary of Department of Higher Education A Karthik was not available for remark despite repeated efforts.