TIRUCHY: The prolonged delay in giving salaries has left 49 hourly lecturers, 34 guest lecturers, and 33 non-teaching staff from the 10 erstwhile constituent colleges of Bharathidasan University in financial and emotional distress.
Since November 2023, these educators and support staff who are working in government colleges in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Permabalur and Pudukkottai districts have gone without pay, forcing their families to grapple with a growing sense of helplessness and despair. K Ramesh (59), one among the hourly paid lecturer working in the Nanilam government arts and science college in Tiruvarur for the past 12 years, is now questioning his career choice.
"In this age and in my 25 years of experience in teaching, I am working in a petrol bunk due to mounting debts and poverty. My salary is Rs 14,200 per month as a hourly lecturer, nonetheless I work for a duration equivalent to that of regular employees." G Jagadeeshwari (50), a doctorate in History, working as a guest lecturer in Orathanadu girls arts and science college, said their service is only profitable to the government as a single associate professor gets Rs 1 lakh salary per month and they get only Rs 25,000 and that too not for over a year.
"I am mentally distressed and cannot decide whether to stay in this job or quit. I have lost self-respect in the family as they know I am working in a job which doesn't pay. I don't know whether we would get the salaries or not. Teaching is the only profession I have done throughout my life. I don't know anything apart from that.
Even if we get the salary all the money would be enough to settle my debt." Beyond the immediate financial impact, the delay has eroded the trust between the staff and the college administration. "We have given everything to our students and our institutions, but when it comes to taking care of our livelihoods, no one seems to care. It's disheartening," shared an hourly lecturer who has been teaching at one of the affected colleges for over a decade.
For her, the mounting expenses of rent, medical bills, and groceries have made survival a daily battle. Many described sleepless nights, constant anxiety, and the humiliation of being unable to meet basic needs. "I have pawned all our jewels. I have children who need school supplies and food every day. How do I explain to them that there is no money for even the smallest things?
We are clueless as a festival season approaches" said G Ramesh, a differently abled junior assistant at Perambalur arts and science college. In a memorandum to the principal secretary for higher education, the Association of University Teachers blamed the university's ambivalence on the issue by agreeing to release the long-pending salary on one hand and acting contrary on the pretext of 'paucity of funds coupled with stiff opposition from the non- teaching staff'.
The AUT alleged the university has no intention to release the pending salary. "While Bharathidasan University and the Higher Education Department play the blame game, these 116 staff members and their families bear the brunt of the salary delay," said M S Balamurugan, state president, AUT.
Sources in higher education told TNIE "We have send a fifth reminder to the Bharathidasan University to release the funds for salaries as already accepted by them and promised for an reimbursement from the government." When contacted higher education minister Govi Chezhian told TNIE he would look into the issue and do what is necessary.