A section of university teachers and students has launched protest against the vacancy announcement made by the Tribhuvan University recently.

University teachers associated with ‘New Force Campaign’ led by Baburam Bhattarai demanded that the TU roll back the vacancy announcement (No. 08/2072/2073) recently published by the commission ‘in the name of special internal open competition’.

They accused the Tribhuvan University of attempting to make teachers aligned to different political parties permanent through the TU Service Commission. They claimed that the vacancy announcement was in contravention of the acts and rules of the university and said the TU should induct new skilled and qualified human resources through open competition by withdrawing the vacancy announcement.

Om Kumari Paudel, central coordinator of New Force Campaign-aligned students’ organisation, said, “We will not allow anyone to ride roughshod over academic norms and values of the TU. The university teachers and students strongly condemn the unlawful move of the TU to give permanent status to temporary teachers on grounds of their political faith,” she stated.

Professor Tirtha Raj Khaniya, TU vice-chancellor, said the decision was irrevocable. “The vacancy announcement was made under instructions from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission, not under the postings of the TU,” he informed. “We are doing groundwork to induct meritorious students in the TU Service Commission directly. However, there is no legal grounds to roll back the decision made by the government and former office-bearers of the TU,” he said.

Khaniya also said that he was still making efforts to convince the agitating teachers and students through dialogues.

Professor Yagya Prasad Adhikari called on both sides to coordinate and collaborate with each other.

Associate Professor Ashok Thapa, who is aligned with the New Force Campaign, urged the TU to scrap the vacancy announcement ‘published with an intention to make university teachers permanent on the basis of their political faith and allegiance’. “We should discourage this wrong practice to safeguard the rights and interests of new generation teachers, who are willing to join the TU,” he said. Thapa said they would launch a hunger strike in front of the office of the TU Service Commission tomorrow to press the concerned authority to roll back the vacancy announcement.

source:the himalayan times,28 feb 2016