THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Picture this: Four teachers of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit retire on November 30, 2017, on attaining 60 years of age. Five days later on December 5, the Higher Education Department issues a strange order. It directs the varsity to allow the retired teachers to re-join service and continue till the end of the current academic year, violating rules.
The order came at a time when four teachers from another centre of the University were all set to join in the place of the retired teachers. According to the order accessed by Express, the reason cited for extending the service of the four teachers was to ensure “students do not suffer due to the retirement of faculty members in the midst of the academic year”.
Double standards, undue haste?
If the logic of issuing the order was to protect the interests of the students, it is not clear why the same was not applied to other teachers. A woman faculty member of the same centre, who retired in September, and that too in the middle of a semester, was not given any such ‘preferential treatment’. The university follows the semester system and the continuity clause applicable to institutions following the annual scheme does not apply here. Ironically, the four teachers retired after the end of a semester.
What makes the matter more curious is the government order was issued on the very same day the four teachers gave a representation urging their service be extended. According to sources, such a haste is unheard of in the Higher Education Department known for sitting over service matters for months on end.
Ordinance issued
In order to give legal sanctity to the extension given to the four teachers, an ordinance was issued by the Governor. The ordinance allowed Sanskrit University teachers to continue in service if their retirement date falls within the end of the academic year. According to the Ordinance, the service benefits of such teachers shall be governed as per the Kerala Service Rules.
However, the Ordinance came out only on December 1, a day after the four teachers retired. According to sources, it is prima facie clear the teachers were not entitled to the benefits laid down in the Ordinance as they were no longer in service when it was promulgated. But the teachers, some of whom are well connected to the ruling dispensation, still continue in service and draw close to Rs 1.25 lakh each as monthly salary.
Legal battle ahead?
According to sources, the woman faculty member who retired in September has also approached the government with the demand she be given extension in service. The Higher Education Department, which is now in a Catch-22 situation, is finding it tough to wriggle out of the matter. The aggrieved teacher has also threatened to take legal recourse.