A recent decision of a Syndicate standing committee in the University of Calicut (CU) not to renew the contract of employees in self-financing institutions directly managed by it after October 31 has led to objections from a staff union.

According to functionaries of the Self-Financing College Teachers and Staff Association (SFCTSA), affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the university currently manages 32 self-financing institutions across five districts, including teacher education colleges, an engineering college, study centres offering MBA and MCA courses, and a fashion designing institute.

The association said that the standing committee decision would lead to the termination of services of more than 400 staff, including in teaching and non-teaching sections. The university has reportedly initiated steps to prepare a list of employees for termination, followed by a fresh recruitment process through re-interviews. The first phase of the exercise is reportedly scheduled to be implemented by October 31. K.P. Abdul Azeez, State joint secretary, SFCTSA, pointed out that a majority of the affected employees had been serving these institutions for over 25 years. The university has never appointed permanent staff to these centres, he claimed. Instead, employees had been engaged on annually renewed contracts with periodic increments. Many of them have now crossed the age limit for alternative employment, Mr. Azeez said.

Unlike private self-financing colleges, the university-run self-financing centres charge comparatively lower fees from students while providing quality higher education. Although the teaching staff possess qualifications prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), including NET and PhD, they have not been granted UGC scale of pay or other statutory service benefits, Mr. Azeez alleged.

The SFCTSA leaders referred to a similar episode at Mahatma Gandhi University in 2017, when the termination of employees of self-financing institutions led to prolonged litigation. They claimed that the MG University was eventually required to pay compensation exceeding ₹50 crore.

Published - August 08, 2026 08:26 pm IST