SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 2: A section of the university and college teachers has held the election committee members of the Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU) Teachers Association responsible for inordinate delay in the poll and alleged that it is being done for some vested interests.
Senior teachers of Dhanbad and Bokaro constituent colleges, some of them also office–bearers in the outgoing committee, have alleged that a few persons (teachers) are in the line of getting coveted posts in the university. They are waiting for that. If they get it, they will not contest the Teachers Association poll. But if they fail, they will contest the election.
“Election Committee is giving time to such persons by delaying the poll,” said teachers who requested not to be quoted.
Teachers of constituent colleges pointed out that when both the outgoing committees’ general secretary Dr Himanshu Shekhar Choudhary and Dr BN Singh set up the election committee on September 21 and requested the members to hold the election as soon as possible why the poll had not been done for more than one and half months.
“You can’t pass the buck in the name of Puja festival. One day is enough to hold a meeting as there are only 10 constituent colleges in Dhanbad–Bokaro and teachers can be called on a short notice to decide the dates of the poll,” said a senior teacher of the 2008 batch.
“Moreover, the electoral list was finalized on October 5. Despite this, the seven-member election committee has not been able to decide and a date is beyond the comprehension of general teachers,” the teacher added.
Since the election of the state body Federation of Universities Teachers Association of Jharkhand (FUTAJ) depends on the BBMKU Teachers Association election, teachers of BBMKU and FUTAJ want to conduct it (BBMKUTA poll) as soon as possible.
FUTAJ’s election is also due since 2017 and its president Prof NK Singh (Dumka University) retired on May 31, 2023. Last year, BBMKU TA general secretary Dr Himanshu Shekhar Choudhary had agreed to host a state body election in Dhanbad when the teachers’ body of six other universities including Ranchi University refused to do so.