A committee investigating allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment of girl students against a teacher of the North Bengal University’s (NBU) Department of Computer Science and Application (DCSA), has decided not to renew the contract of Dilip Roy Chowdhury.
A meeting in this regard was held at the NBU yesterday, where officials discussed a report submitted by the enquiry committee, officials said here today. NBU vice-chancellor (V-C) Dr Subiresh Bhattacharya said that the teacher in question was hired on a contract basis and that he was not a permanent staff of the NBU.
“The meeting decided not to renew his contract based on the allegations and findings of the enquiry committee,” Dr Bhattacharya said. Students of the department who had been protesting the teacher’s acts and demanding his ouster, welcomed the decision and said that they will resume work at the department from tomorrow. It may be mentioned here that the students had padlocked the department on 3 April, seeking action against the teacher.
“We are happy with the decision taken by the university. Our long-pending demand has been met and we are satisfied. We will resume classes from tomorrow,” the students said.
The students had vowed to keep the department padlocked until exemplary steps were taken against the teacher. They also protested the delay in taking action against Mr Roy Chowdhury.
Based on the allegations of the students, the enquiry committee had been constituted in December last year, while the panel had submitted a report to the VC.
In the meantime, the accused teacher had been asked to go on compulsory leave. It may be recalled that on 29 March, around 300 students marched across the NBU campus, shouting slogans, and they staged a demonstration in front of the administrative department, demanding punishment for the teacher in question.