Cusat to Seek Regularisation of Faculty Members of SOE

KOCHI:The Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) is planning to approach the state government seeking regularisation of about 200 faculty members of the the School of Engineering (SOE).

The move comes in the wake of the fact that the reserve  funds with the School of Engineering is fast drying up. If the  posts are not regularised by the government the varsity will have to meet the expenses towards the retirement and pension benefits of the faculties who are being paid as per the norms of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). Some of the faculty are set to retire this academic year . 

According to sources, the university is finding it difficult to afford the expenses by way of salary and other expenses as these faculty members are paid from the varsity’s own exchequer. These staff were appointed when Centre for Under Graduate Studies in Engineering (CUSE) was established as a self- financing institution under the university during 1995-96. Later CUSE was merged with School of Engineering and staff were retained though the posts were not sanctioned by the government.

Since these posts were not sanctioned by the government, the varsity has been spending from its exchequer to pay them. “The university so far has not submitted any formal request. But we are  seriously considering approaching the state to regularise the posts,” Cusat Pro VC Paulose K Jacob said.

Besides, the decision of the government to affiliate all engineering colleges to newly-established  Kerala Technological University will adversely affect the financial position of the SOE.

The expected annual loss in the first year alone will be around of Rs 4 crore.  However, the PVC has denied this. “It is a different issue,” he said.

As per the  order of the Higher Education Department, all technical institutions in the state have to affiliate with the Technical University to conduct BTech and MTech courses from the academic year 2015-16.

Around 25 to 30 per cent of Cusat’s internal revenue is being generated from recognised engineering colleges by way of recognition fees and other fees paid by the students.

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