BENGALURU: Bangalore University (BU) has started to allot residential quarters meant for teaching faculty at the Jnana Bharathi campus to non-teaching staff, as there is little demand from the former.
There have been few requests from the reader, associate professor and professor cadre to stay in the quarters inside the campus.
So, instead of leaving them vacant, the university has decided to allot them to non-teaching staff who are keen on moving in. The teaching staff can either take the house or a House Rent Allowance (HRA) of `25,000, so they pick the latter since the quarters are not good enough and they can rent out better homes with the HRA.
There are over 140 quarters available inside the campus, which can be allotted to both categories. Out of this, 40 had been reserved for the teaching staff for several years now.
“[But] There was a demand from non-teaching staff for these quarters. Therefore, we started allotting them the flats after inviting applications,” said a senior official of the university.
The official added, “The HRA for professor cadre is above `25,000 per month, in which they can get a 3-BHK house in and around Jnana Bharathi campus. Therefore, they prefer not to live in the staff quarters.”
The HRA is not paid to those living in the quarters, the official said.
There were applications from non-teaching staff for exchange of their quarters with the quarters reserved for teaching cadre. “But we did not consider applications requesting exchange. Only fresh allotment applications were considered,” the BU official said. The allotments were then based on seniority.
Interestingly, a large majority of non-teaching staff who were allotted the quarters recently, preferred to stay inside the campus with its greenery and pollution-free environment. An employee said, “I escaped the heavy traffic after shifting here, which I used to otherwise face everyday.”
Another employee, of an assistant registrar cadre, said, “Here it is so green and there is less pollution. After I shifted to the quarters, I feel so relaxed.”
Few flats need to be repaired
There are over 13 quarters that are in dire need of repair. So, the university has not allotted these to anyone. To start the renovation work, the university is waiting for all teachers from the parent Bangalore University to shift to Bengaluru Central University and Bengaluru North University. “Once the shifting is done, then we will repair the quarters. If the damage is massive, then we will demolish the building and build a new apartment,” said a BU official.