The state government’s control over yet another premier educational institution, after Presidency College, has come under threat.

A large number of teachers at Jadavpur University, belonging to the anti-CPM lobby, have demanded that the institution be upgraded to a central varsity.

JU, now a state-aided campus, will come under the direct control of the Centre if the status is granted.

The teachers’ lobby, which has been gaining ground over the past few months, is distributing leaflets among faculty-members, highlighting how the “central” tag would benefit them as well as the university.

“The response is overwhelming. The new status will result in fatter pay packets for teachers, and more funds and better infrastructure for the university,” said Tarun Naskar, a senior teacher at JU.

“Reputable central agencies, such as DRDO and Isro, which do turn up for campus interviews at JU will start recruiting our students if we become a central university,” he added.

The demand has caught the CPM-controlled Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association off guard, prompting general secretary Keshab Bhattacharya to say: “The switch may not be technically feasible but we will definitely consider the proposal.”

A central teacher retires at 65, whereas the superannuation age for a teacher of a state university like JU is 60. A retired state teacher can be re-employed for five years without certain benefits like the annual pay hike.

A lecturer’s salary at a state university is Rs 10,000-13,000 less than at a central institution. A JU professor trails a colleague at a central varsity like JNU by Rs 20,000-23,000 a month.

State teachers are also not entitled to the children education allowance of Rs 2,000-6,000 a month that a central teacher gets.

The grant ratio of a central university to a state institution is 10:1.

Sources said the demand by Naskar and other teachers had been prompted by a survey by Current Science, a leading journal, which rates JU as the best of all state-aided varsities in the country. In a list of 30 elite institutions, including the IITs and IIMs, JU ranks seventh.

“Our university is now the number one among all state-aided universities in India.... But what are we getting in return?” the leaflet asks.

The human resource development ministry had in 2004 suggested that JU be upgraded to an IIT but the proposal had to be scrapped following the state government’s opposition. The Union ministry had then promised to take up the issue later.

Presidency College, the other jewel in the education department’s crown, is set to slip out of the government’s grasp as the move to declare it a university picks up pace.