Maharani University guest lecturers protest unpaid remuneration and tax deductions

More than 100 guest lecturers at Maharani Cluster University in Bengaluru have been without remuneration for two months and have boycotted classes during a week-long protest, according to The Hindu. They have warned of a hunger strike if their concerns are not resolved. The dispute follows conflicting arrangements for hiring lecturers in the 2026-27 academic year.

The government first instructed the university to recruit guest lecturers but later directed the Department of Collegiate Education to make the appointments, with payments to be disbursed at university level. The department appointed 106 lecturers in August to teach arts, science and commerce. The university separately recruited 30 lecturers for BCA, data science and artificial intelligence.

The lecturers appointed through the department receive between ₹35,000 and ₹40,000, while university-appointed lecturers can receive up to ₹50,000, according to the report. The department-appointed lecturers said the university had begun deducting tax at source from their remuneration. They argued that department rules should apply to them and compared their position with lecturers at two other cluster universities, where they said no such deduction was made.

They also said teaching workloads often amounted to only three or four hours a week, making deductions from already limited payments difficult to absorb. Some said an oral assurance had been given that they would receive 10 months of remuneration, monthly payments and service certificates, but that the university had not fulfilled those commitments. Acting Vice-Chancellor Mamatha B.

said the tax deduction was being made in compliance with an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal order. She said steps would be taken to ensure remuneration was paid in accordance with university regulations. The report said appeals to the university and the Higher Education Department had so far produced no resolution.