Fasting WBUT teacher critical, 4 more unwell

KOLKATA: A teacher, who was taking part in the hunger strike outside the office of the vice-chancellor of West Bengal University of Technology, fell unconscious and was hospitalized early on Sunday morning. The condition of four others, who are on a “fast unto death”, has also deteriorated and is being monitored round the clock.
The teachers are protesting against the termination order of 92 faculty members of the Bengal College of Engineering and Technology and Bengal College of Engineering and Technology for Women, both based in Durgapur.The university has called an emergency executive council meeting on Tuesday to take a call on the crisis.
Rathin Pailan, who had to be hospitalized on Sunday, used to teach computer science till he was sacked. Pailan, who holds an MTech from Kalyani University, volunteered with four other teachers to take part in the fast since Thursday. When he blacked out, the university rushed in doctors who checked him and found a severe electrolyte imbalance and fluctuating bilirubin levels and got him hospitalized despite his feeble protests.
Keeping in mind the condition of Pailan and the four others who are also fasting, the university has pre-poned its emergency meeting from Thursday to Tuesday.
University vice-chancellor Ranjan Bhattacharya expressed concern over the health of the fasting teachers. “The problem has been going on for quite sometime. When we first heard about it, we did an independent investigation and issued a showcause notice to the college authorities. They replied to us but we asked further questions. However, we must find a solution to the issue and hope the emergency executive council will be able to find a way.”
“The university does not have any direct say in the employment of teachers of private colleges. The private colleges just employ the teachers and pay them salary on the basis of rules and scales that we frame,” he further said.
Satish Sharma, the chairman of SKS Educational Trust, which runs both the colleges, said: “The teachers have willingly left the college. We have not terminated them. We have employed others in their place so that the colleges run smoothly. I don’t understand why they are protesting now.”
Other teachers who were sacked are also agitating outside the VC’s room.
“We have been sacked for an unjust cause. The college administrations forced us to distribute pamphlets at bus stands and railway stations of Durgapur to attract attention of students and lure them into taking admission,” said spokesperson for the protesting teachers Sudip Majumdar.