A teacher from the mathematics department of BN College has not received his salary for three months because he refused to abide by a directive set forth by the vice-chancellor of Patna University.

Vinay Kanth, the teacher from the college, had refused to obey vice-chancellor Y.C. Simhadri's directive, which makes it mandatory for teachers to sign a daily attendance register, recording their time of arrival and departureto and from colleges. Kanth, who also teaches postgraduate students at the university, had refused to sign the register because he had a problem with the university keeping a tab on the teachers.

Complying with the vice-chancellor's directive, the college administration has stopped his salary.

Kanth has approached Patna High Court against the order.

"We are teachers but the varsity is treating us like students. As far as attendance is concerned, I do sign the students' attendance register while taking classes. That should be enough to ascertain if I am teaching the classes assigned to me," he said.

Last year, Simhadri introduced the concept of maintaining a teachers' attendance register so as to keep a tab on the mandatory six-hour stay at institutions under the university. The concept of the compulsory six-hour stay is in accordance with the University Grants Commission directive. At that time, some teachers, including Kanth, had objected to the directive and some had approached Patna High Court too. The court had asked the university to release the salary of teachers, at the same time asking Kanth and other teachers to follow the university directive.

Though BN College principal was unavailable for comment, Patna University registrar Sanjay Sinha said: "The matter is sub-judice and I won't say anything on this issue."

The six-hour directive has yielded good results for the colleges as it has helped the varsity regularise its academic calendar. This is because the courses are completed on time with the teachers staying at the institutions for the stipulated period.

A senior teacher of the university, on condition of anonymity, said: "The issue is not as huge as it is made out to be as other teachers have been following the directive too. It is the time for reconciliation so that academic activities at colleges and the university improve."

Apart from maintaining the teachers' attendance, the varsity administration also keeps a tab on the attendance of the non-teaching staff. The university administration installed the first biometric attendance recording system at the university's main office in May, this year.