Expressing discontent over students not attending his classes, an assistant professor in a Bihar college has returned his total earnings for over two years, amounting to nearly Rs 24 lakh. Lalan Kumar has been teaching as an assistant professor at the Nitisheshwar College in Muzaffarpur, Bihar since September 2019. However, according to Kumar, students of the college have not showed up for even a single class since he joined, reported a leading news daily.
He has now decided to return his earnings of 33 months. “My conscience does not allow me to take a salary without teaching,” Kumar was quoted as saying. He highlighted that students did not even bother to attend the online Hindi classes during the pandemic. “If I take a salary without teaching for five years, it would be academic death for me,” Kumar added.
Kumar reportedly handed a cheque of Rs 23,82,228 to the registrar of BR Ambedkar Bihar University (BRABU) to which the Nitisheshwar college is affiliated to. This was Kumar’s first job and, according to him, he never saw any environment of education in the college since his joining. Kumar said that his inner voice encouraged him to take the step and give back his salary to the university.
While Kumar cited morality for returning his earnings as an assistant professor, the college principal, Manoj Kumar, suspected an ulterior motive behind the move. He said absenteeism of students wasn’t the only reason that prompted Kumar to take the step but it was “a pressure tactic to get a transfer to postgraduate department.”
Meanwhile, BRABU registrar R K Thakur backed the professor and lauded his decision to return the salary. He acknowledged that Kumar did something unusual which deserves immediate attention. Thakur told The Indian Express that the matter is being discussed with the vice-chancellor and the principal of the Nitisheshwar College will be soon asked for an explanation behind the low attendance in classes.
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