PUTA executive met on 26.08.11, to finalize its charter of demands. These demands were discussed with the Vice Chancellor (henceforth VC) along with his officials. Here is an account of the demands.
PUTA on CAS Promotions and Recruitments:
• The promotion or re-designation of selection grade lecturers/ readers to associate professor has been suspended from March this year. This should be resumed without delay.
• Those who have been interviewed prior to introduction of new UGC guidelines in June, 2010, and whose cases have been cleared by Syndicate and Senate, have been waiting for the last two years. They should be issued letters of promotion.• The colleagues who were interviewed for Senior Scale, and were eligible for their promotion in this scale before30 December, 2008, should be given letters of promotion.
• The scheme of promotion for the colleagues in the Dental Institute has already been cleared by Syndicate and Senate, but no formal headway has been made. Introduce forms/ precise guidelines so that they can apply for promotions at the earliest.
• There should be exemption of Refresher Course for Ph.D. degree holders from Stage I to Stage II under CAS.
• The colleagues from UIET and other departments have been asked to do one more refresher course as per the requirement of the new UGC guidelines. Those who were on the verge of promotion in July 2009 have been asked to do one more refresher course from back date, which is impossible. Such teachers should be given a concession of two years to do the additional refresher course, and in no case the date of their eligibility be shifted/ changed.
• CAS applications for promotions from Associate Professor to Professor and from Professor to Senior Professor have not been processed as yet. Their promotions have already been delayed. These CAS promotions need be completed within two months. PUTA executive felt that to expedite theprocess, a separate cell be constituted for CAS promotions. A calendar of department-wise interviews be prepared at the earliest so that teachers seeking promotions can re-schedule their academic programmes accordingly.
• IT professionals/programmers, who have worked overtime to provide e-services to the users within the University and outside, have been denied their right to promotion. The University should come out with a clear-cut policy of their promotion, and its implementation at the earliest
• In some departments the number of guest faculty is far more than the 10% limit of the sanctioned strength of the concerned department. In all such departments regular faculty be immediately recruited.
• The posts advertized and interviews held so far are too inadequate to meet the requirements of staff-starved departments. The University should bring out a policy to ensure the regular process of faculty replenishment, so that in future the situation of faculty-crunch does not arise.
VC’s Response: Vice Chancellor showed the Executive a time schedule of interviews for CAS cases and open posts. He assured the Executive that “100% CAS applications are in process”, and by 31st October, all CAS and open selections would be made. The selections which have been put on hold would be re-looked into, and soon a decision would be taken on them. PUTA has suggested that if there is any doubt about the legality of these promotions, they may be carried with in an undertaking from the teachers.
As regards promotions to colleagues in Dental Institute, the Vice-Chancellor told that new guidelines of Dental Council have come and those who fulfill the criterion of publications etc. would be able to apply very soon. PUTA shall keep a track of the issue. With regard to the regularization of the existing adhoc faculty he, says that some of the posts have been advertised in which the existing adhoc faculty can also apply. Their candidature would be taken sympathetically. About doing Refresher Course post facto, VC advised PUTA to approach UGC for relaxation of more time to faculty due for promotion in 2009. For IT professionals/programmers/ Assistant Librarians, VC said that a committee may be constituted to examine the issue and matter be resolved within a timeframe. On the issue of faculty crunch, he showed PUTA leadership a precise schedule of interviews. Also he asked PUTA leadership to bring to his notice the departments where there is an urgent need to recruit faculty.