COIMBATORE: An assistant professor of Bharathiar University who was suspended in 2023 has been struggling to rejoin duty despite several petitions to the university administration though the punitive action should not have lasted more than three months as per norms.

Assistant professor S Usha recently sent a petition to the Secretary of the Higher Education Department, P Shankar, urging him to take action on the matter.

Usha told TNIE that she was suspended on October 6, 2023, following a dispute over the delay in submitting the proposal for the RUSA Phase III (a centrally sponsored scheme) to the Head of the Department without a valid reason.

She said that after a committee was formed to inquire into the matter after she complained of bias, an interim stay order was obtained from the court in November of the same year.

She then urged the university several times to revoke her suspension and allow her to resume work.

However, she added that the university had not taken any action regarding it, and she has been unable to rejoin duty.

“Government Order 81 of the Human Resource Management Department states that in departmental disciplinary cases or inquiries pertaining to non-vigilance and non-criminal matters, a suspension should not be extended more than three months. However, my suspension has continued for more than two-and-a-half years. Government Order issued by the state government, citing a direction from the Supreme Court, has not been followed,” she pointed out.