NIT faculty resent work by outsiders- Acting director prevents teachers from rejoining

NIT faculty resent work by outsiders- Acting director prevents teachers from rejoining
Still on the boil
Jamshedpur, May 16,2008 : The stalemate at National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur continued today, even three days after the teachers called off their strike.
Teachers brought in from outside continued to conduct examinations. When NIT teachers tried to participate in the ongoing viva voce of the third and final year students, the heads of the departments concerned asked them to stay away. Teachers from BIT, Mesra took the oral examination, while the NIT teachers sat isolated in their respective chambers.
The NIT Teachers’ Association (NITTA) has decided to apprise the chairman, board of directors of NIT-Jamshedpur B. Muthuraman and Union ministry of human resources development of the situation.
“It is humiliating to see outside teachers taking the viva of our students, especially when we are no more on strike. Moreover, this is a deemed university, where we are supposed to carry out everything,” said a NITTA member. NITTA president M.K. Agrawal told The Telegraph that he was observing the situation and will take necessary steps before things spun out of control.
“I have decided to write to the chairman of the board of governors, NIT-Jamshedpur and to the human resources development ministry, describing how acting director A.K. Mishra was behaving with the faculty even after the teachers called off their strike unconditionally,” said Agrawal.
He said he would request the chairman, NIT-Jamshedpur, B Muthuraman and the human resources development ministry authorities in New Delhi to set up a probe into whether the acting director was committing any anomalous act.
Explaining the necessity of the presence of the NIT teachers at the during the viva, the NITTA president said: “The students appearing for the viva had taken lessons from us only. Moreover, in accordance with the rule, 40 per cent marks in viva are supposed to be given by teachers who taught the students concerned.”
Akhileswar Mishra, when asked, said he was not officially informed that the strike had been called off. “They might have called off their strike, but I have not been officially intimated about it. Hence, I had to engage teachers from outside,” said the acting director.
He, however, claimed engaging BIT, Mesra teachers to facilitate the declaration of results by May 23, the scheduled date of publication of the results of the end semester.