A section of teachers in aided colleges affiliated with the University of Calicut have claimed that there is an inordinate delay in granting approval for their promotion.

According to V.M. Chacko, a member of the advisory committee of the Senate standing committee for private college staff, at least 213 promotion files have been pending with the university for some time. The highest number of such files is from St. Thomas College, Thrissur (18), followed by Farook College, Kozhikode, and Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur (11 each). Eight files each are pending approval from Mercy College, Palakkad, and St. Mary’s College, Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad.

Mr. Chacko pointed out that many more such files were being sent from various colleges to the university apart from these. Also, 15 files related to the approval of teacher appointments in aided colleges had been pending with the university.

In a letter to the Vice-Chancellor (V-C), Mr. Chacko said that the advisory committee of the Senate had not held any meeting to discuss the issues of private college staff. Also, during each standing committee meeting, only a few proposals related to the promotion of college teachers had been approved. He claimed that the sections concerned had not efficiently sped up the checking and scrutiny of the files.

Seeking the V-C’s intervention in the issue, he said that such a delay was unheard of in Central and State government departments. P. Sulfi, another advisory committee member, had also written to the V-C, highlighting the issue.

Mr. Chacko and Mr. Sulfi, members of the Congress-affiliated Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association, said that the delay in clearing files was akin to curtailing the legitimate rights of college teachers.