Syndicate approves ‘extraordinary leaves’,even as PU grapples with faculty crunch

Dr Rajinder Bhandhari from the Department of Arts and History has been granted a leave without pay for three years,starting from February 1 this year to January 31,2013. The reason Dr Bhandhari cited was that his family needed him abroad.

Another professor,Nidhi Aggarwal of the UIET department,was granted one year leave without pay — she also cited similar reason. Last year also,Prof Aggarwal had been granted a leave,as “she had to be with her family abroad”.

Prof Dinesh Kumar of the Mathematics department has also been granted a leave for one year.

Interestingly,in the same meeting,the Syndicate accepted resignation of two faculty members,who had gone on extraordinary leaves.

Dr Pushpinder Syal of the Department of English was on an extraordinary leave for two years. After she got a job with the Foreign Languages University,Lucknow,she submitted her resignation,which was accepted on Saturday.

In another case,Dr Gagan Preet Kaur from the UIET department was relieved after she was recruited by the Punjabi University. Dr Kaur had also gone on a leave for two years.

“With more than 50 per cent shortage of staff,these leaves are adding to the faculty crunch. They are also encouraging other faculty members to apply for such leaves,” a senior faculty member said.

Fellow Dinesh Talwar,said,“The university can grant extraordinary leave to any teacher for up to three years but they should ensure that someone is appointed in their absence.” But nobody in the Syndicate raised this issue. Senior university officials denied to comment on the issue.

In the meeting,the Syndicate also approved a proposal,which allows students to see their answersheets after paying Rs 500.