Ranchi, April 8: Ranchi University authorities have taken strong exception to the “immoral” practice of some teachers, who absent from work on the pretext of examination duty.

The matter came to light when pro vice-chancellor Anand Bhushan recently undertook a surprise visit of the postgraduate chemistry department, where two teachers — M. Alam and R.R. Jha — were found absent.

University sources said when the visiting team enquired about the absence, the clerks with chemistry department said the teachers were on duty-leave to supervise the ongoing intermediate examination.

Bhushan asked the head of the department to show him the leave application of the missing teachers, sources said.

The department head told Bhushan that he was not aware of the teachers having been deployed for examination duty, sources added.

Bhushan showcaused the teachers and ordered that their salary be withdrawn for the period they had been absent without informing the authorities.

The teachers were not available for their comments.

Sources said that according to the rules, a teacher is required to submit an application before attending examination duty.

The application letter is forwarded to the university registrar and a separate attendance is maintained for such allied academic duties.

In another development, the seniority committee of the Ranchi University declared that Bengali teacher N.K. Bera was senior to S.K. Paul, head of the Bengali department.

Sources said a fresh notification announcing the replacement of Paul by Bera will be issued soon.

The seniority committee, which met today, however, could not decide on the seniority of Hindi teachers Badri Prasad and Ravi Bhushan and sent the matter to chancellor’s secretariat for a final decision.

The matter has been pending with the university since Manju Jyotsna’s term as head of the Hindi department expired in December last year.

The university has decided to table the demand of Grade III employees of Ranchi College at the extended meeting of the syndicate to be held on April 15, university spokesperson S. S. Akhtar said.

The employees had been demanding immediate payment of salary arrears.