34 teachers yet to return from abroad
Steps being taken to recover money taken from university
HABIBULLA MASUM, CU
Thirty-four teachers of Chittagong Universitys (CUs) various departments have not returned from abroad since 1985. They left the country for higher studies with loan from the CU.
The CU authorities are taking steps to get back more than Tk. 2.37 crore from them. The teachers have neither returned the money, nor joined the university after completing studies.
The CU authorities have decided to sack them.
Letters have been sent to departments and institutes concerned, seeking the whereabouts of the defaulters so that they can be contacted. The authorities may also contact Bangladeshs diplomatic missions abroad, said CU sources.
We have started the process of getting the money back. If we dont get their response soon, we will file financial suits, said Prof. Iftekhar Uddin Chowdury, vice-chancellor (VC) of CU.
Loans, salaries and other allowances that the 34 teachers received before and during the study leave add up to
Tk. 2,37,71,037, according to a CU syndicate statement. All of them either resigned or were sacked by the university.
The statement said the university authorities asked the teachers to pay back the money on several occasions, but did not get any response. The authorities noted that the rate of interest would keep increasing until the teachers repaid the loans. Earlier, the CU had also published advertisements in several national newspapers in this regard.
At present, around 125 teachers are on study leave in different countries. The CU authorities will be submitting the names of two teachers who owe money at the syndicate meeting, sources said.
The acting registrar of CU, Prof. Dr Kamrul Khuda, said the syndicate took a set of decisions, including sending warning letters and reminders to them. But the teachers did not return to their job even after their study leave ended.
A list of the teachers would be posted on the university website soon so that they could learn about their debts, said Kamrul Khuda.
According to university rules, a teacher can go abroad for higher education, taking up to four years of study leave. During the leave period, they are entitled to salaries and other allowances.
Sources said each of the defaulters had signed a bond before taking loan and facilities that they would pay back the money if they decided to stay abroad.
On April 6, the CU authorities sacked a teacher of the accounting department. It also gave an ultimatum to a teacher of the anthropology department to join work by May 16, failing which he would be sacked on May 17. Their debts range from Tk. 1,789 to Tk. 66.39 lakh.
Here are the names of the defaulters and teachers who did not return to their job after completing studies abroad.
Assistant professor Jahangir Alam of the forestry and environmental science department owes the CU Tk. 66.39 lakh;
ASM Sohel Azad of the finance department, Tk. 17.16 lakh; Anwar Ali of the finance fepartment, Tk. 3.97 lakh; assistant professor Mohammad Aminul Karim of the finance department, Tk. 2.75 lakh; Masud Hasan of the statistics department, Tk. 15.40 lakh; assistant professor Rahim Uddin Chowdhury of the statistics department, Tk. 8.37 lakh; Md Saiful Islam, Tk. 11.26 lakh; lecturer Gauri Rani, Tk. 8.91 lakh; lecturer Shamsad Sultana, Tk. 3.39 lakh; lecturer Borhan Uddin Azad, Tk. 1,789; Nazrul Islam of the marketing department, Tk. 5.86 lakh; Tareq Ibne Safa of the marketing department, Tk. 1.23 lakh; Nurul Amin of the accounting and information system department, Tk 3.05 lakh; assistant professor Mohammad Badrul Mutakkin of the accounting and information system department, Tk 2.93 lakh; assistant professor Dr Mohammad Hedayet Ullah Chowdhury of the accounting and information system department, Tk. 38,540; Dr Rasheda Khanam of the management department, Tk. 1.72 lakh; NRM Borhan Uddin of the same department, Tk. 11,500; associate professor Dr Md Nusrat Aziz of the economics department, Tk. 10,10 lakh; assistant professor Kamal Uddin Ahmed of the same department, Tk. 6.7 lakh; Prof. Imam Uddin Bhuiyan of the chemistry department, Tk. 2.99 lakh; assistant professor Dr Md Hayayat Uddin of the same department, Tk. 1.30 lakh; Abinash Chandra Mistri of the chemistry department, Tk. 1.14 lakh; NM Nurul Amin of the Institute of Marine Science and Fisheries, Tk. 11.2 lakh; associate professor Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal of the same department, Tk 1.17 lakh.
Besides, assistant professor Delwar Hossain of the communication and journalism department owes the university Tk. 16.61 lakh; assistant professor Jannatul Ferdous Afrin of the philosophy department, Tk. 14.64 lakh; assistant professor Md Imam Hasan Reza of the plant science department, Tk. 13.3 lakh; Md Sajjadur Rahman of the international relations department, Tk. 1.62 lakh; Abu Md Abdus Sayem Khan of the physics department, Tk. 1.59 lakh; assistant professor Md Assad Kabir of the applied physics department, Tk. 1.54 lakh; ABM Mosle Uddin of the history department, Tk. 1.47 lakh; Abu Bakar Rafiq Ahmed of the Arabic department, Tk. 16,983; Subash Chandra Saha of the soil science Department, Tk. 11,318; assistant professor Hajera Beagum of the marketing department, Tk. 6,888.
The acting registrar, Prof. Dr Kamrul Khuda, told The Independent: The university has decided to terminate the services of 34 teachers. The issue came up at the 508th syndicate meeting of the CU. Letters will be sent to them from the university. Legal action will be taken if they do not pay up.
