KOCHI: The Centre for Professional and Advanced Studies, the society that has been formed with the education minister as chairman for self-financing institutions controlled by MG University, has to take a call on regularising 70-odd faculty who earlier served on contract basis. The contract teachers had earlier approached the Kerala High Court for regularising them and granting them UGC scale, including arrears. The court while closing the petition recently had ordered the university to declare probation of the qualified and eligible teachers among them and grant them UGC scale.
The teachers, majority of whom are reportedly not qualified, approached the Supreme Court against this through a Special Leave Petition and the Supreme Court the other day rejected this petition and ordered to implement the High Court order. According to official sources, the university itself had worsened the situation by declaring probation for those who were not eligible and giving them UGC scale which prompted others to approach the court to get the same. The MGU at one point invited contempt of court for not implementing interim orders of the court in various cases in this regard and had to cough up Rs 10 crore for paying UGC scale and its arrears to 70-odd teachers without verifying their qualifications.
With the High Court finally ordering recently to verify the qualifications and eligibility and grant the UGC scale and declare probation as per that, the university has decided to take back the money given to ineligible teachers. Since the new society has been formed to take care of the case of these 70 teachers as well, it is to be seen what its decision will be. However, MGU syndicate sources said that the university will go ahead with the process of recovering the money given to ineligible teachers. “It is there in the appointment order given to them,” one syndicate member said.
