Eight teachers' organisations of West Bengal have expressed their concern over the higher education department's move to discuss the human resource management system (HRMS) in state universities. Labelling it as an attempt to curb the autonomy of colleges and universities, they have alleged that the move will turn university campuses into higher education department offices.
According to a report by PTI, the eight organisations involved are:
1) Calcutta University Teachers' Association (CUTA)
2) Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA)
3) Rabindra Bharati University Teachers' Association (RBUTA)
4) West Bengal State University Teachers' Association (WBSUTA)
5) Burdwan University Teachers Association
6) Kalyani University Teachers' Council (KUTC)
7) Netaji Subhas Open University Teachers' Association (NSOUTA)
8) Vidyasagar University Teachers' Association (VUTA).
"According to rule, the VC/registrar/finance officer of a university holds the position of the drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) of that institute. If HRMS is implemented, an officer of the higher education department shall become the DDO, which will be a gross violation of existing university rules and also be a serious threat to the autonomous status of the institutes of higher learning. Universities shall even lose the right to pay salary to its teachers and staff," the teachers said in their letter to the education department.
"In such a case, university authorities will have no say if the salary of an employee is withheld by the government for whatever reason. The most alarming aspect of this policy is that the government shall have the right to transfer a university teacher to any other institution, in the name of public interest, treating them as government employees," added JUTA General Secretary, Partha Pratim Roy.
Dubbing it as a clear indication of the government's unholy design to turn university campuses into offices of the higher education department by systematically snatching away the rights of these autonomous institutions, Roy claimed that former education minister Partha Chatterjee had tried to implement this policy in 2018 but faced resistance from teachers' bodies.
"This time too, teacher associations are ready to put up equal resistance against such authoritarian attempts. We believe that the proposed meeting is a result of the remark of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 'financial blockade' of universities that are not running according to the instructions of the state government. We oppose the attempt of the higher education department to take away the autonomy of the universities," the letter said further.
The official word
In a recent communique to the finance officers of state-aided universities, an official on the assistant secretary level asked them to join a meeting on September 20 to discuss the issue "regarding HRMS in the state-aided universities". A higher education official said that this meeting is aimed at discussing the financial situation of every university and the crisis faced by some due to the non-release of UGC grants to run ongoing projects.
"It has nothing to do with the salary of the staff," he added. Education Minister Bratya Basu had earlier said the CM's comment about the financial blockade to universities pertained to the flow of funds to some state-sponsored projects but has nothing to do with the payment of salaries to either faculty, VC, or any other staff of the institutions, as per PTI.
