As most staffers put on census duty are from accounts dept, salary disbursement suffers

Census holds up salaries at university

As most staffers put on census duty are from accounts dept, salary disbursement suffers

These days there is a strong sense of discontent in the air on the University of Pune campus.u00a0The ire is directed towards the district collector.

The district collector has directed nearly 400 employees of the university to take up census work, and a vast majority of these employees are from the finance and accounts department. As a result, not only has routine work been affected but also salary payments of university employees.

Salaries have been delayed along with the payment of Sixth Pay Commission arrears of university staffers.

Near-empty offices
While finance officer Sanjay Gawai could not be contacted even after a visit to his department, a source at the finance and accounts department said that 69 of the 72 staffers there had been put on census duty.

"Even though the assignment does not involve a whole day's work, taking merely a few hours for house surveys, the problem is they have to go to places that are far from the university and after doing this kind of field work, it is not possible for them to come back and do routine work," the source said.

Prabhakar Desai, assistant professor at the Marathi Department, said unease was evident in the university.

"A few teachers will be approaching the vice-chancellor to request him to ask the district collector to solve this issue," he said. "How can salaries of hundreds of employees hang in the balance because of census duty?"
Dr Bhaskar Shejwal, head of the Psychology Department, also said salaries were delayed, but refused to comment on the census issue.

Dr Manohar Jadhav, head of the Marathi Department, said it was the first time salaries had been delayed because officers were deployed on other duties.

"I'm sure that even if they spend two-three hours doing census work, routine work at the department should not suffer, though it is true that the pace does get affected," said Jadhav.

The only two clerks in his department have been deployed on census duty.