SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 23: Retired teachers of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU) would get their pending due of group insurance benefit soon.
The finance officer of BBMKU Dr BN Singh on Monday said that paperwork for payment of group insurance benefits of teaching and non-teaching retired staff is being prepared. Within a week, it would be sent to Jamshedpur based company after getting the order from vice-chancellor Dr Mukul Narayan Dev.
Group insurance benefit payment to retired teachers of BBMKU has been stopped from 2019 but at the same time, their counterparts in other universities of the state received it on the same day they retired.
New finance officer (FO) of the university Dr BN Singh, who assumed office hardly one year ago, said that as the matter came into his cognizance, he initiated steps to clear the deadlock.
“Since one year, the premium of teachers was not deposited even after deduction from their salary. The insurance company blocked the claim of payment. However, the file would be prepared in one or two days and sent to the insurance company,” said Dr BN Singh.
A source in the university said that the outgoing finance officer Naresh Purty did not deposit a one-year premium in the insurance company through the cheque was prepared. Reportedly, Naresh Purty informed the department that he would himself deposit the cheque hand to hand at Jamshedpur. But he didn’t do that and the cheque bounced.
Group insurance payment came into the limelight on May 22 when five times former MP of Dhanbad Prof Rita Verma met Governor Ramesh Bais at Ranchi and lodged a protest over the matter.
BBMKU became a separate university from Vinoba Bhave University Hazaribagh in 2017. Till August 2018, VBU deposit deducted premium of teachers in the company. The newly created BBMKU did not deposit thereafter.
In February 2019, when Prof SKL Das took charge of the BBMKU registrar, he was surprised to find out that four months’ deducted premium of teachers was not deposited. He questioned the same from the concerned authority and directed them to get enrolment of BBMKU with the insurance company due to which group insurance was held up. In the meantime, a new registrar assumed the office and the matter was wrapped up under carpet again.
Retired professor NK Ambastha rued that despite repeated requests, neither vice-chancellor nor the teachers’ body took interest in payment of group insurance to retired teachers. “ Due to the apathetic attitude of concerned authority (former FO), the claim of group insurance did not go from BBMKU resulting payment is stopped,” he said.
