MU revokes paid maternity leave for guest faculty and temporary staff
Mangaluru: In a cost-cutting move, Mangalore University (MU) has revoked paid maternity leave for guest faculty and temporary non-teaching staff. The syndicate granted four months of paid leave in July 2022, but the benefit was discontinued last month without alternative provisions.
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The cash-strapped MU aims for this move to significantly improve its financial condition, and the syndicate pointed out that there was no necessity to provide such benefits to guest faculty and temporary staff. Judith Mendonca, a syndicate member who proposed scrapping the policy, stated that guest faculty working under MU are paid a substantial amount of compensation compared to other state universities in Karnataka.
The monthly salary is around Rs 40,000.
Despite paying such a huge amount, their workload is minimal. There are guest faculty appointed for courses with fewer than 10 students. They have a maximum of three hours of work per day. In this scenario, it is an absolute financial burden on MU to offer the temporary staff such benefits. Therefore, MU has decided to withdraw and scrap the rule from May 2025 with immediate effect," explained Mendonca.
The decision to offer paid maternity leave was taken after former syndicate member Ramesh K tabled the proposal. He informed that one of the guest faculty working in Kodagu district, which was earlier under MU, requested that all women guest lecturers be considered for paid maternity leave. No guest faculty or temporary staff under MU were eligible for the facility, even though many worked for more than a decade. The aim was to give them relief as they have no pay until they return to work.
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Currently, only contractual employees are eligible for six months of paid maternity leave, as directed by the state govt.
Unhappy with the decision of MU, female guest faculty members said that they need to be given some other benefits for their welfare or reverse the decision.
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