Kurukshetra varsity approves 5-day week for staff

Kurukshetra University has passed the proposal for a five-day teaching week, fulfilling a long-standing demand from the university’s teaching staff. The decision was made during the 285th meeting of the Executive Council on Sunday.

Additionally, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) approved the promotion of 52 teachers under both the budgeted and self-financing schemes (SFS).

The five-day working week had been a significant problem in the elections of the Kurukshetra University Teachers’ Association (KUTA). The KUTA president, Dalip Kumar, expressed gratitude for the decision, stating, “Teachers at Kurukshetra University had long been requesting the implementation of a five-day week, as it is already in place at several universities. Letters requesting this change were sent to the Vice-Chancellor and Haryana Chief Minister. We are thankful to the VC for accepting our demand. The current six-day timetable will be adjusted once the new system is implemented.”

Dr Maha Singh Poonia, the director of Public Relations at Kurukshetra University, confirmed the approval. He said, “Today, a long-pending demand was fulfilled and the five-day working week proposal was passed unanimously. It will now be sent to the university’s chancellor for final approval and is expected to be implemented from the next academic session in July.”

In addition to the five-day week approval, the Executive Council also confirmed the promotion of 52 teachers under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). Among the promotions were Dr Hemlata and Dr Archana Chaudhary (Economics), Dr Deepak Rai Babbar (Zoology), Dr Praveen Kumar (Chemistry) and Dr Suman Mehandia (Physics) to the rank of Professor.

Notably, the council also approved the promotion of several faculty members from the UIET (SFS) and other departments to Associate Professor under CAS. These included Dr Sanjeev Ahuja, Dr Rajesh Agnihotri (UIET), Dr Renu Malra (IIHS), Dr Surjeet Kumar, Dr Ankush Ambardar (Tourism and Hotel Management), Dr Ram Avtar, Dr Vijay Garg, Dr Kulvinder Singh and Dr Ajay Jangra (UIET).

Furthermore, the council approved the recruitment of three new faculty members in the Mathematics Department. Several other important matters were also discussed, and decisions were made during the meeting, which was attended by KU Registrar Dr Virender Pal and other Executive Council members.

Haryana Tribune