KOCHI: Struggling with a financial crisis, the Kerala Kalamandalam, the deemed-to-be university of Art and Culture under the Kerala government, has issued an order to discontinue the services of around 130 temporary employees, including teachers, hostel wardens, drivers, and cooks. The order, issued by the Kalamandalam registrar on Saturday, stated that the services of these temporary employees would remain suspended from December 1, 2024, until further notice.
In response to the news, Minister for Culture Saji Cherian told TNIE that he had instructed the Registrar to withdraw the order immediately. "The government will look into the grievances of the University and try to resolve the issue. Retrenchment of employees is not the policy of the government, and we will address the issues faced by the university," he said.
Although Registrar P Rajesh Kumar and Vice Chancellor B Ananthakrishnan were unavailable for comment, a senior employee explained that the university was forced to retrench temporary staff due to insufficient non-plan funds. The university has a sanctioned strength of 150 employees, including teachers, and requires Rs 90 lakh per month to cover salaries. However, the government has only been providing Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per month for the past two years.
"Last year, salary distribution was delayed by 75 days, after which arrangements were made to ensure salaries were paid within the same month. A liaison officer was appointed to address the financial issues with the government. Now, salaries are distributed by the end of the month. Employees who have taken loans are struggling to pay their installments on time," said a teaching staff member.
"The non-plan fund of Kalamandalam is Rs 7.75 crore, and the sanctioned staff strength is 150. However, the staff strength was fixed in 1981, when Kalamandalam was offering only diploma courses. If the temporary employees are retrenched, the functioning of the school will be severely impacted, as there are only three permanent teachers. The functioning of the students' hostel and mess will also be affected, as all the employees are temporary workers. There are 11 security staff and 19 sweepers, apart from drivers and office staff," said V S Arunkumar, a temporary worker.
"No other university in the state is facing a financial crisis like Kalamandalam. The government provided Rs 27 crore to Kerala University this month. Malayalam University, with a staff strength of 40, has a non-plan fund of Rs 5.5 crore and receives Rs 80 lakh per month," said Anilkumar, another staff member who received the retrenchment order.