Bihar governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain has mandated five hours per day of classes for faculty members of government-funded universities and colleges, nearly doubling the teaching workload prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The diktat issued by the governor's secretariat to 18 state universities and their affiliated colleges last month is being seen as an instance of chancellors interfering with the academic affairs and functioning of higher educational institutions.

Governors, in their capacity as chancellors of state-run universities, appoint vice-chancellors, preside over convocations, and intervene to resolve administrative deadlock or ensure compliance with laws.

"All faculty members, in full-time employment of the universities/the colleges, have to mandatorily attend classes for a minimum of five hours per day, subject to not less than 40 hours of workload in a week during the semester weeks,” said the order issued by Kalpana Srivastava, officer on special duty (OSD) in the governor's secretariat, with the chancellor's approval.

According to the UGC regulations on minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education, assistant professors have to devote 16 hours per week to direct teaching-learning activities, while it is 14 hours for associate professors and professors.

The regulations say "it is necessary for teachers to be available for at least five hours daily in the university/college".

Aditya Narayan Mishra, former president of Delhi University Teachers Association, has written to the governor to modify the order to conform to the UGC guidelines. He argued that the UGC norms asked teachers to be present on the campus for a minimum of five hours daily, but they were not expected to take classes for all of those five hours. The order issued by the OSD is based on a “mechanical and narrow approach to teaching-learning in universities and colleges”, he said.

The Telegraph has emailed Srivastava to seek her comments on the five-hour teaching norms. Her response is awaited.

In March, the governor's secretariat in Jharkhand issued a letter to all state government-funded universities, stating that VCs seeking duty leave for attending different events would be treated as casual leave (CL). The VCs attend seminars, conferences and other academic events in various institutions and seek duty leave for such engagements.

A professor at a Jharkhand university said taking duty leave for attending academic activities is a regular practice in academic institutions.

“To deny duty leave and treat absence from headquarters for engagements in academic and other enriching events as CL is an act of interference by the chancellor into the academic affairs of the universities,” the professor said.

An email sent last month to Nitin Kulkarni, the private secretary of the Jharkhand governor, seeking his comment on the objection to the directive failed to elicit a response.

The alleged interference by governors in the setting up of VC selection panels in state universities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala has delayed appointments in nearly a dozen varsities in both states.

The search panels are set up by the state government and comprise nominees of the chancellor, the university and the state government. The UGC in 2010 created a provision to send a nominee to the search panel for VC appointment in universities. It has not been implemented in central universities yet.