Jadavpur University has lost six teachers to better pay and research opportunities over the past few months and at least five more have applied to institutes of national importance for jobs.

The flurry of resignations highlights the state universities’ inability to retain their best teachers because of disparity in pay and other benefits with central institutes.

The IITs, IISERs, ISIs and other central institutes offer fatter pay packets and better research facilities and grants that teachers in state universities here find hard to resist.

JU isn’t the only state university losing out. At least seven teachers quit Presidency University recently, many of them wooed by better pay.

“A number of teachers have resigned and joined other central and state institutions in the past few months. Some of them have left the campus for personal reasons,” said Pradip Kumar Ghosh, the JU registrar, who described the trend as “not unusual”.

Teachers who have left JU or are planning to leave are from departments like mechanical engineering, computer science and engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics and comparative literature.

The human resource development ministry had in 2004 suggested that JU be granted IIT status but the proposal had to be scrapped because of opposition from the erstwhile Left Front government, which allegedly did not want to loosen its grip on the university.

Some academics said JU has been rated as one of the best state universities in the country, particularly for its faculty positions, but an upgrade of status is urgently needed to retain the cream of teachers.

“The Left government had not accepted the Centre’s proposal nine years ago because it felt the transformation would not be feasible. JU will keep losing bright teachers if the present government too fails to see things in perspective,” an academic warned.

The salary of an assistant professor at a state university is Rs 10,000-13,000 less than that at a central institution. If the grants and other allowances are taken into account, a professor at JU gets nearly Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 less than a colleague at a central varsity like JNU. Central universities also offer research grants to teachers, unlike JU.

State teachers are also not entitled to children’s education allowance that central teachers get.

The retirement age at JU is at least five years lower compared with central universities. A retired state teacher can be re-employed for five years, but without benefits like the annual pay hike.