More than 320 professors and staff did not complete their studies even though they took leave with salary
About 500 professors and staff of Tribhuvan University have been found to have misused their study leave. The university has suffered a loss of more than one and a half billion due to students who do not complete their studies even after taking study leave with monthly salary and stay abroad even if they complete it.
There is a provision to get study leave for 3 to 5 years in the rules related to the service of university teachers and staff. It was found that more than 320 people who used the facility did not complete their studies and 180 people went abroad for studies but did not return to the university. The Executive Council of the University formed a committee to search for teachers and staff who took study leave. The 3-member committee formed under the coordination of Associate Professor Jeevan Kafle said that the Trivica Registrar Kedar Rizal is in the final preparation of submitting the report.
The committee formed last January along with the Executive Council informed the progress of the work to Acting Vice-Chancellor Khadg KC, Registrar Kedar Rizal and Rector Duvinand Dhakal. According to the Executive Council sources, it has also been found that most of the deputy professors, associate professors and professors who do not complete their studies after taking leave are teaching in private colleges.
Samiti sources said that while on study leave, they got salary benefits ranging from 30 to 40 lakhs per person. On an average, a person receives 60,000 per month and receives 780,000 per year. On an average, a person earns 31 lakh 20 thousand at the rate of 4 years. When 500 people misused the study leave funds, the university has suffered a financial loss of at least one and a half billion," said a member of the executive council.
Coordinator Kafle said that after collecting the data, the search committee has reached the final stage of writing the report. We are preparing to submit the report within a week or two. "Some data is being re-established," he said. There is a provision to teach at the university for the same period after returning from study leave. The member of the council said that the committee informed that the said provision was not only a violation but also a financial irregularity. The committee has prepared to make a recommendation to recover the said amount as the university has suffered financial loss as well.
According to the Tertiary General Administration Division, since the financial year 2071/72, around 1,000 teachers and employees have taken study leave. It was found that more than 50 percent of them did not complete their studies and even if they did, they did not return to the university and enjoyed the salary facility. The investigation committee is also prepared to suggest recovery of salary benefits from such professors and employees along with 10 percent interest/penalty.
The committee has pointed out that the teachers and staff working in 64 individual campuses, departments and central offices of Tribika misused the study leave. On February 9, the committee had written to the tertiary institutions across the country to provide the details of the teachers and staff who did not return using the study leave and misused the said leave. The committee told the officials that some campus departments have hidden such details.
'The committee has complained that the details have been hidden by putting pressure on the head of the campus and department on the basis of access, as the professors and employees of the Congress, UML, Maoist-affiliated professors' association/organization have misused the study leave,' said an official of the council. It is estimated that the number of people who have misused their study leave due to hiding their details may be more than 320. According to the registrar's office, some of those who did not return from abroad and did not complete their studies contacted the Financial Administration Division and started returning the money.
The committee has found that some professors have harmed the university by taking unpaid leave even after completing their study leave. "After 5 years of study leave, there have been reports of professors who have been on unpaid leave for 7-8 years," said the member of the executive council.
It is illegal to get pension benefits by calculating unpaid leave according to the University rules. According to sources, the committee is preparing to recommend the executive council to curb this too. The search committee has pointed out that the problem of partial contract professors has arisen in the university due to the trend of staying on study leave, not studying, and not returning even after studying. "After the professors are on leave, part-time or contractual teachers are recruited in their place to run the classes," said the official, "After years of working part-time or on contract, they pressurize to make them permanent through limited competition." It has been found that the professors who have reached the most places for
studies, followed by Europe, Australia, Japan, and Canada, do not return. The committee has prepared to suggest to the university to give at least 3 months to return the salary facility to those who have misused the study leave and if it is not returned within that time, send a written list to the employing agency along with the list.
