Teachers body seeks policy at GTU over deaths of faculty on inspection duty

The Gujarat State Government Engineering College Teaching Gazetted Officers Association has demanded formation of a policy over deaths of faculty sent on duty by Gujarat Technological University (GTU).

Recently, a private college professor, Dr Krishna Dwivedi, passed away in a car accident while heading towards Kutch for an inspection scheduled by GTU.

Dr Dwivedi was travelling in a car provided by the GTU’s designated transport agency. Following this incident, the association of colleges has made a representation to the university, pointing out that similar deaths have occurred during GTU duties in the past, yet no clear decision or compensation has been offered in such cases. Therefore, GTU is being urged to establish a concrete policy on this issue and ensure appropriate compensation is provided.

₹2 cr compensation demanded

The colleges highlighted that during every semester, many faculty members are required to travel in rented or personal vehicles for GTU-related duties, which involves a risk of accidents. This has led to a demand of a policy that offers medical assistance in case of injury and ₹2 cr compensation in unfortunate events of death.

Delayed payment of dues

Additionally, faculty members complain that remuneration for supervision and other assigned duties is not paid on time. Another concern raised is about the irregular distribution of answer booklets for assessment.

According to them, GTU does not allocate answer sheets evenly among faculty members across branches and subjects. For instance, in one subject, some faculty members are given only 70–100 answer booklets, while others are burdened with 250–350.

Moreover, the university’s instruction to merge exam blocks with fewer than 30 students after the creation of theory exam blocks leads to difficulties.

There are also grievances about inconsistent penalties—both GTU and the state government's Commissioner’s office impose separate punishments for the same error during paper setting or online mark entry. The association demanded that GTU announce standardised rules for such penalties.