Had To Open Tea Shop To Survive, Says Asst Prof Who Was Allegedly Terminated For Demanding Salary

"Had To Open Tea Shop To Survive", Says Asst Prof Who Was Allegedly Terminated For Demanding Salary

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The prolonged tussle between the teaching staff of Sinhgad Institutes in Pune and its management has now reached a shocking low. An assistant professor at the Singhad College of Engineering (SCOE), Pune is now forced to run a tea shop. Mr Tanpure Mahesh, an M.Tech degree holder was terminated on June 14 this year, even before he could complete one year of the probationary period.


Salary of teachers not paid for more than a year

Sinhgad Institutes have been accused by its several staff of not paying their dues for over a period of one and half year. The teachers teaching in various colleges under Sinhgad Institutes have been forced to run from pillar to post to make sure they get their salaries, but, unfortunately, even after such a long time, they are yet to be paid their complete dues. Instead, they are allegedly resorting to terminating teachers without notice or without giving proper reasons. Reportedly, Mr Tanpure happens to be one of the 550 teachers who was relieved of their services, allegedly without any proper or legitimate reason.

“I received my appointment on April 17, last year. The appointment clearly stated that I was to serve one year of a probationary period, post which I would be made permanent. However, less than a year later, the college handed me the termination letter falsely stating that I was recruited on a temporary basis,” claimed Tanpure while speaking to The Logical Indian.

He claims that this happened because of his involvement in the protest against management for non-payment of salary. “I was one of the foremost persons to have taken part in the protest which began from December 18. This protest went on till March 9. The case was then taken to court, post which we got one-two payments, but even till today our complete salary have not been paid,” he laments.


Forced to open tea shop

Tanpure’s financial condition has been extremely poor. His parents stay in the village with his brother, while he stays in Pune with his wife, who is also studying. “My brother works as a welder, he alone cannot support the family, so in a way, my family was dependent on me.”

He did not even have money to rent a space for his tea shop. He had to then borrow money from his friends and relatives and since August 15, he has been running this shop.

When asked why did he not apply to other colleges, Tanpure alleges, “Most of the colleges in Pune pay salary very irregularly. Also, my colleagues and I who actively participated in the protests have gained infamy for being ‘troublemakers’, in fact, one of my colleague who was also terminated did manage to secure job at another college. However, after serving for 3-4 days, he was suddenly asked to leave. We are sure that the reason for this is our participation in agitation.”

He further adds that he desires to serve as a teacher for his whole life, but all these problems are stopping him from doing that. He even says that since the teachers are treated so poorly, the quality of education being imparted also suffers.

Right now, not only he has been terminated from his job, and forced to run a tea shop, but also claims, that he has a defamation case on him. “Since I was among the ten people in the forefront of the protest. We were actively posting about the atrocities on social media. This irked the management and right now a defamation case worth Rs 1 crore has been filed against me and two other teachers. The other seven have a suit worth of Rs 25 lakh on them.”

The Logical Indian tried several times to reach the principal of SCOE where Tanpure was teaching, however, there was no response.


Sinhgad institutes row

Sinhgad institutes have been on a termination spree since June this year. It is being reported that more than 500 Professors and Assistant Professors teaching in colleges under it have received their termination letters and moreover about 60-70 teachers were transferred to Lonavala campus which is almost 70 km away from Pune.

Three different petitions were filed by the teacher’s groups in court. Few of the teachers had then also written to the Governor of Maharashtra, asking him to take swift action or allow them to take their own lives.


The Logical Indian take

It is a matter of utter shame that qualified teachers who shape the future of a country are now made to face such dismal conditions. The helplessness teachers are facing can be felt from the fact that they went on to ask the Governor the permission to end their lives.

The kind of treatment meted out to these teachers is extremely abysmal and The Logical Indian hopes that swift action is taken.


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Editor : Shraddha Goled

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