Sirsa University teachers upset over salary delays for months

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, June 1

Hundreds of contract-based and part-time teachers at Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) have been complaining about not receiving their salaries on time for months. Vice-Chancellor Ajmer Malik claimed the delays were due to the delay in submission of files by these teachers, and not because of any fault of the administration. He claimed everyone’s salary was processed on time.

There are close to 110 part-time teachers at CDLU. According to reports, these teachers received their salary for January on February 19, for February on March 22, for March on April 24, and for April on May 29. Now, they claimed that they would not receive any salary from May 1 to July 21 due to the end of the session.

Additionally, Assistant Professors (contractual) received their salary for January salary on February 13, for February on March 29, for March on April 12, and for April on May 13. Despite a notification issued on January 19, 2021 by CDLU, stating that Assistant Professors (contractual) should receive their salaries by the 10th of every month, salaries were not disbursed on time.

A part-time professor from the Law Department said their salaries are never credited into their accounts before the 20th and are often delayed even further. The salary file process for part-time teachers is so lengthy that it passes through 15 to 18 departments, requiring extensive verification each month. However, the teacher claimed that the salaries of regular professors are credited to their accounts before the 10th of every month.

A part-time teacher from the English Department said that even if they submit their file by the 5th of the month, they receive their salary only after 15-20 days. They added that worrying about delayed salaries for 15-20 days each month affected their ability to teach effectively. Many teachers rely solely on this salary to run their household, causing significant monthly difficulties.

In response to this, VC Ajmer Malik said that the university’s administration never delays any employee’s or teacher’s salary. The delays were due to the late arrival of files from various departments. Dr Malik suggested that some individuals might have complaints because they were asked to take classes, but otherwise, all teachers receive their salaries on time. He explained that issues like attendance and leave often cause delays in the departments’ file submissions, but the files are processed on the same day.

HOD of the Law Department Mukesh Garg said that the delay was not due to a problem on the chairperson’s end. He acknowledged that some part-time teachers delayed submitting their bills, which resulted in late payments. He explained that a single salary file is prepared for all part-time teachers working in a particular department. Therefore, the file cannot be moved forward until all salary bills are submitted. He noted that while some teachers submit their bills on time, others do not.