SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 28: The attack on Dr. Sharmistha Acharya, an assistant professor of Bangla at Sindri College, has escalated into a major controversy. Instead of addressing the incident, the college principal, Dr. K.K. Pathak, issued a show-cause notice against her and appointed a new examination controller in her place, she alleged.
Dr. Acharya, who also serves as the vice-president of the Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University Teachers’ Association (BBMKUTA), claimed that her grievances were ignored.
Attack on the Teacher
The incident occurred on March 22 when Dr. Acharya was returning to Shaharpura from Manohartand after completing her college duties. Near Sai Temple, a group of youths had blocked the road due to a group clash. As her car approached, the agitating youths reportedly asked her to take a diversion. In the ensuing chaos, some of them struck the car’s bonnet with sticks and smashed its windows.
Following the attack, she lodged an FIR at the Sindri police station and also informed the university’s vice-chancellor via email, requesting a week’s leave to recover from the trauma.
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Allegations Against College Administration
Dr. Acharya accused the college principal of failing to address her plight. She also alleged that when she approached university Registrar Dr. D.K. Singh on Thursday, he dismissed her concerns, telling her he had no time and advising her to meet the Proctor instead.
“Despite my appointment as the examination controller by the university, the principal replaced me with an ad hoc teacher,” she stated.
Principal Denies Allegations
Sindri College principal Dr. K.K. Pathak denied the allegations, stating that Dr. Acharya had taken leave on March 23-24 to go out of town. Later, she directly submitted a one-week leave request to the Vice-Chancellor.
“Since she had not assigned examination duties to any teacher, the college had to appoint a new examination controller to conduct the Semester-2 exams. In a faculty meeting, no regular teacher was willing to take responsibility, and finally, a contractual teacher agreed to take charge,” Dr. Pathak explained.
He added that if she had requested to be reinstated, he would have considered it.
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BBMKU to Investigate
BBMKUTA secretary Dr. Amulya Suman Beck stated that since the Vice-Chancellor has initiated an investigation into the matter, the association will refrain from taking sides until the facts are clear. He emphasized that BBMKUTA would not be influenced by any external pressure in its decision.
