Ignored For Years, Professor Resigns After Salary Hike Requests Go Unanswered

Teachers play a crucial role in shaping young minds, but, not all educators receive the recognition they deserve. Recently, a 37-year-old Assistant Professor opened up about the unfair working experience he went through at an engineering college in East Bengaluru. In the post, he claimed that despite dedicating 10 years to the institution and receiving positive feedback from students, his request for a salary hike was never approved. Disheartened by the lack of support, he decided to resign but was surprised when no one from the college attempted to stop him. Since the post was shared on Reddit, it has garnered over 700 upvotes and many reactions.

He alleged that his experience changed for the worse when a new college principal joined in 2019. The new principal never accepted his request for an increased salary despite him putting in extra effort such as staying back in college until late evening, working on Sundays, and paying by himself for student competitions. Furthermore, he claimed that junior teachers were getting paid more than him.

Sharing his agony, he said, “I did everything and I never said no to any job assigned, but my request to increase salary was never approved. Students were happy with my teaching. I received consistently excellent feedback from my students. I was helping students with hackathons and competitions. Many times I paid entry fees from my pocket for many competitions. During NBA and NAAC accreditation, I used to stay till 8-9 PM in the evening. We worked on Sundays too. Juniors were paid more than me. I was clueless. I couldn’t understand what mistake I was making.”

He further wrote, “Entire college knew what I was doing but our principal was not ready to acknowledge it. I met him to discuss before resigning and he was not ready to discuss anything with me in the absence of our HOD. This HOD always supported 3-4 faculty and he was delegating difficult tasks to rest of us. I was fed up with this system and resigned recently. Nobody asked why I was resigning and nobody asked me to stay. Honesty and loyalty have no meaning in this world!”

He further alleged that he was not paid any EPF after the salary structure changed suddenly. “DA was reduced from 115% to 30% and the remaining 85% was added to other allowances. This reduces my gratuity by at least 50%!”, he said.

Social media users have expressed support to him with many congratulating him on this decision and many others offering suggestions. Reacting to the post, a user suggested, “Not paying EPF is illegal. Please find a way to sue them through proper channels. Ask in the Legal India sub about your options.”

Another shared, “This is injustice. I thought educational institutions were safe and free from this kind of practices. This world is becoming Cruel and evil everyday. No value for good people.”

“Teachers in all levels of the education sector are overworked with little to no compensation. The fact is we are replaceable, institutions do not care about your quality of teaching. They know they can replace you with a cheaper option,” a comment read.

An individual suggested, “Please name and shame the institution. If you are not comfortable naming it, you can always hint about the college, location etc and people will know and you will be in no trouble.”

One more added, “The toxicity isn’t worth your time and mental Heath. All the very best for your new innings.”