Heads of various departments and faculty members of the Khaja Banda Nawaz University, Kalaburagi, have written to various authorities complaining of non-payment of salaries by the management from January to June.
President of India, Prime Minister, Union Human Resources Development Minister, Union Labour and Employment Minister, Chief Minister of Karnataka, Higher Education Minister of Karnataka, chairman of University Grant Commission, and chairman of All India Council for Technical Education, were among those the letter was addressed to.
Deputy Commissioner of Kalaburagi B. Sharat, who was one of the addressees, confirmed the receipt of the letter. The faculty members alleged that the non-payment of salaries for months together has been the habit of the management. “But, this habit had attained a new low because the thought of not getting salaries for six months during the pandemic is scary and yet we have been forced to live with it. The faculty members have been taking online classes regularly,” the faculty said in the letter.
They have also alleged that “the president of Khaja Education Society, Kalaburagi, had great influence over high-ranking politicians [and] no one is keen to resolve the issue.”
A.M. Pathan, V-C of Khaja Banda Nawaz University, a private university under which the institution functions, told The Hindu: “I am on leave and I have to contact the Accounts Department to know the issue.”
However, Syed Muhammad Ali Al Hussaini, vice-president of the Khaja Education Society, accepted the non-payment of salaries to the staff for the last “few months” and attributed the problem to the pandemic. “COVID-19 has caused crisis everywhere. Students are not paying fees and we are finding it difficult to run the institution,” he said.
