With few students turning up for his classes for almost three years, a 33-year-old assistant professor at Nitisheswar College in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district has sought to return his salary of ₹23.82 lakh earned over the past 33 months after listening to his “conscience”.
Lalan Kumar, who teaches Hindi literature at the college under the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (BRABU), said he took the step because of the “abysmal attendance” of students. He said his “conscience did not allow him to accept a salary without teaching the students for which he was hired”.
Mr. Kumar, an alumnus of Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University who joined the college in October 2019, handed over a cheque for ₹23,82,228 to Ram Krishna Thakur, the registrar of BRABU. However, the administration “refused to accept” the cheque and said there was no provision under which it could accept his request.
