Varsity teachers pay for stir
From Jupinderjit Singh

PATIALA, Oct 1 — The Punjab Government has decided to hold back the salary for September of all teachers in the three universities — Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, PAU, Ludhiana and Punjabi University here, reportedly, in retaliation for these teachers' participation in their nation-wide strike from August 11 to September 5 for implementation of UGC scales.

The directions to withhold salaries came telephonically a couple of days back to the deputy controller local audit (DCLA) office of each university from the examiner local fund accounts under the Finance Ministry, Punjab. It also said not to clear the salary bills till further orders were received from the Punjab Government.

A highly-placed official in the Finance Department, Punjabi University, here speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed receipt of the orders. Quoting a letter written by the local Audit Office to their department he said that the salaries of teachers are cleared by the deputy controller, local audit office of each university. However, the salary bills for September had not been cleared, as the DCLA has received orders from the Finance Ministry to stop the salaries.

The official further said that when pressed by the university authorities and the teachers, (DCLA) local fund under the Finance Secretary, Punjab seeking further orders in the matter. A copy of the letter has been kept as a record by the Finance Department.

Peeved at the orders, particularly during the festival days of Dasehra, representatives of the three universities have taken up the case with their respective university authorities.

A delegation of teachers at Punjabi University here met the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Joginder Singh Puar, late last evening and urged him to take up the matter with the Punjab Government.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Puar said that he talked over the telephone with officials of the Finance Ministry, who assured him that the matter would be resolved at a meeting of the teachers with the Finance Minister, Punjab.

Inquiries from Guru Nanak Dev University revealed that the authorities told the Audit Department to clear the salary bills now and later adjust the salary in the coming months according to the decision of the Punjab Government. But the proposal was not accepted by the Audit Office of that university.

Further inquiries from the three universities revealed that the directions to stop the payment of salaries come under the "no work, no pay rule", applicable against striking government employees. Dr B.S. Nanda, former co-chairperson, Punjab Federation of University Teachers Association (PFUTA), condemned the orders saying if the government can clear the salaries of teachers in government colleges, who had also participated in the strike, then there was no reason to withhold the salaries of university teachers.

Mr P.S. Gautam, Chairperson, PFUTA, when contacted at Chandigarh, said that the HRD Ministry, after reaching an agreement with striking teachers had requested the state governments not to take action against teachers for participating in the strike. He said that by stopping the salaries now the Punjab Government should not precipitate new crisis.

The conveners of the constituents of the Teachers United Front (TUF) of Punjabi University, Patiala, namely, Dr R.C. Gupta (PTC), Dr B.S. Sandhu (FTC), Dr Joga Singh (CUT) and Dr Nazar Singh (GTU) in a signed statement expressed serious concern at the attitude of the Punjab Government in withholding the salaries of university teachers, even while the salaries of college teachers had already been released.

It needs to be pointed out that the university teachers are being denied salaries in spite of a categorical assurance by the Human Resource and Development Minister that no retaliatory action would be taken against any teacher who took part in the strike, the statement said.

The conveners condemned the Punjab Government for undue and deliberate interference in the autonomy of the universities, which also disrupts the normal functioning of the universities. They urged the government to immediately withdraw the respective orders and release the salaries without further delay. Since this was a festival period. Otherwise, they would be forced to adopt an 'agitational path', the statement said.