Staff to report early day after Calicut University Vice Chancellor retires

KOZHIKODE: In a novel protest against Calicut University Vice- Chancellor Dr M. Abdul Salam who allegedly called the non-teaching staff ‘lazy’ and ‘non-productive,’ they will work an extra hour on Wednesday, a day after Dr Salam’s tenure ends. The teachers and non-teaching staff also will not give Dr Salam a farewell on the campus.

Mr P. Abdu Rahiman, general secretary, Solidarity of Calicut University Employees, said that the staff under the aegis of Samyuktha Samara Samithi would organise a public trial of Dr Salam and burst crackers on Wednesday evening after working from 9 a.m.

“During his tenure, the VC portrayed us as lazy and vitiating the campus atmosphere. He also put those comments on the official website of the varsity. So this would be our fitting farewell to a man who was an autocrat,” he said. Though some of the syndicate members had decided to give him a farewell at a resort, it was scrapped later.

A farewell note from the VC titled ‘My heart is full,’ was termed by the teachers as ‘linguistic casualty.’ “The hearts of teachers are also full to the brim and our happiness knows no bounds now that you are exiting the office of the VC,” they said.