RIT staff rough up principal over non-payment of salary
ROURKELA: Miffed over non-payment of salary for 20 months, faculty and staff members of the Civil Township-based Rourkela Institute of Technology (RIT) manhandled principal Manoj Jena on Saturday evening. Following the incident, the principal tendered his resignation on Sunday even as the administration hinted at the handover of the educational institution of Rourkela Technical Education Society (RTES) to new management to clear all outstanding dues.
Jena was manhandled during a meeting at the Admission Office of RIT. Around 130 faculty and staff members, who have not been paid salary for the last 20 months, blamed mismanagement in running RIT and other educational institutions under RTES.RTES secretary Pravat Mohapatra said with admissions dipping to less than 50 per cent, earnings of the institute have come down drastically. He claimed that all the issues would be solved in next three to four days as talks are at an advanced stage for handing over the management of RTES to a new entity for the effective running of RIT and other educational facilities.
RTES sources informed that in the current academic session, only four students took admission in the Plus II College of RIT against the intake capacity of 192. In the Industrial Training Institute, 42 students have taken admission while an equal number of seats are lying vacant. Similarly, only 110 students have enrolled in various branches of diploma engineering against 510 seats. The AITCE has restricted first-year admission into MBA and MCA courses of RIT.
Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan said he was been informed about the chaotic situation by some faculty members and the district administration would look into it. Meanwhile, the existing 500 students of RIT have been left in the lurch as no classes have been taken since the last 45 days. They said teachers are not attending classes over their demand. Those residing in the hostel are also facing difficulties due to the teachers’ protest.