Lecture-basis teachers accuse GND varsity of harassment

Divya Sharma
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 23

The faculty members, working on lecturer basis, at the regional campus of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Gurdaspur, have alleged harassment by authorities in the wake of a petition filed by them with the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) last year.

They have alleged mental harassment, non-payment of their salaries and decrease in their workload by the authorities. The Guru Nanak Dev Association of Ad-hoc Teachers has also accused heads of various constituent colleges, regional centres of troubling the faculty working on part time basis, harassing them mentally and financially.

Tasbir Singh, one of the petitioners at the regional centre, Gurdaspur, said, “We are four teachers in total, who had filed a petition against the university, challenging the recruitment process last year. The university had withdrawn the recruitment. The court had ordered payment of our salaries within a month, but we have been paid partially.”

“Secondly, the dean of the centre is not cooperating with us. He is forwarding salaries bills to the university. He is decreasing our workload,” he added.

Gurpreet Singh, president of the Guru Nanak Dev University Ad-hoc Teachers Association, said, “The heads of several constituent, regional centres of the GNDU are troubling the petitioners. Even a faculty at GNDU college in Jalandhar is not being paid salary. Such mental and financial harassment will not be tolerated.”

Refuting the allegations, Sandeep Sood, associate dean, GNDU regional campus, Gurdaspur, said no mental harassment was being meted out to them. “There are certain rules. Firstly, there are two salary bills pending with us. These salary bills can only be cleared if they show us attendance register and no-due slips. They have failed to show their attendance registers as well as slips despite reminders. The workload has been set according to requirement of the institution. There is nothing unfair here,” he added.

Karanjeet Singh Kahlon, Registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University, said, “We have not held anyone’s salaries. The lecture-basis staff have to meet certain requirements. Their salaries will be released. It is according to rules.”