Conscience or Greed? Bihar Teacher Returns 33 Months’ Salary as No Student Attended his Classes
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 7: Was it his Conscience biting or greed to get a promotion? An assistant professor in a Bihar college returned his 33 months’ salary, amounting to about Rs 24 lakhs, because he was “not teaching” during the period due to lack of students!
Dr Lalan Kumar, who teaches Hindi in Nitishwar College under Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (BRABU) in Muzaffarpur district, claimed that out of 131 students, none of them attends his class. The 33-year-old Lalan Kumar returned nearly Rs 24 lakh that he earned since he joined the job in September 2019 as no student turned up for a single class in these 33 months.
“My conscience does not allow me to take a salary without teaching,” Lalan Kumar said, adding, “Even during online classes, there were only a handful of students present for Hindi classes.”
Lalan Kumar returned ₹23,82,228 to the registrar of BR Ambedkar Bihar University (BRABU), a state university — the college is under the umbrella of BRABU.
Lalan Kumar said, “If I take a salary without teaching for five years, it would be academic death for me. I heard my inner voice and decided to return my salary for two years and nine months to the university.”
While Lalan Kumar’s action was praised by BRABU registrar RK Thakur, the college principal, Manoj Kumar attempted to belittle his gesture claiming that it was “merely a tactic” to get a promotion to the postgraduate department of the college. Lalan Kumar has applied to the postgraduate department to be “more involved” in academics.
The principal said the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic a few months after Lalan Kumar joined the college and since then, the college conducted online classes.
Lalan Kumar, who completed his Masters in Hindi from Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and PhD and MPhil from Delhi University, had also applied for transfer to the PG department in order to be “academically involved”.
The assistant professor said ever since he joined the college, he never saw any environment of education in the college. He said he heard his “inner voice” and decided to return his salary for two years and nine months to the university.
The matter has, however, brought the students’ absenteeism at the Bihar college to the core. The BRABU registrar said, “We are discussing the matter with the vice-chancellor and would soon ask Nitishwar College principal to explain absenteeism.”
