JNU to cut teachers' pay for strike

New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration is set to crack down on teachers who are protesting against gag orders and changes in admission and recruitment rules. The JNU teachers' association struck work on Tuesday after five teachers were warned against addressing protests. On Thursday, registrar Pramod Kumar issued a notice to teachers, saying: "Under the principle of 'No Work, No Pay' such faculty member(s) who had participated in the strike would not be paid pay and allowances for the day of the strike. It is proposed to take action against those faculty members who participated in the strike on 17.1.2017 under the provisions of FR 17(a) along with all its attendant consequences." FR 17(a) of Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, lays down that for any employee who is "absent unauthorisedly or deserts the post, the period of such absence shall be deemed to cause an interruption or break in service of the employee". This would imply loss in seniority and promotions. Nandita Narain, president of the Federation of Central University Teachers' Associations, said Central Civil Services Rules do not apply to universities "as our service conditions are different". "Certain rules are applied when a university does not have rules for the same. This does not include disciplinary provisions like 17A," she said. Vikas Bajpai of JNU's Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health said the "No work, no pay" principle was "absolutely inapplicable". "Even in the past teachers have made up for the loss of studies on account of strikes and agitations by taking extra classes. This has never been applied in JNU before as the university has its own rules.