KATHMANDU, Aug 10: For 119 days, professors and employees of Tribhuvan University (TU) have been staging daily sit-ins, demanding pension security after retirement. Yet they say authorities have shown little urgency in addressing their concerns.
Assistant Professor Dr. Nanda Kishor Singh said teachers and employees working at the same level at TU are being treated differently, with only a portion of the university’s teaching staff covered by the pension system.
“Seventy percent of the teaching staff at TU does not receive pensions,” Singh told the Republica. “The government does not provide TU with funds specifically for pensions. TU receives a lump sum from the government.”
The lack of pension coverage has left many teaching staff worried about their financial security after retirement.
TU has been providing pensions to employees who were appointed permanently before 2068 BS. Associate Professor Pradeep Kumar Shah, who became a permanent TU employee in 2064 BS, said he has been receiving a pension since his retirement.
“The system that provides pensions to teachers who became permanent before 2068 BS but denies the same benefit to those appointed later through the same process is itself wrong,” Shah told the Republica. “Not providing pensions to teachers who educate society not only tarnishes their social standing after retirement but also increases social insecurity. TU and the state must make pensions mandatory for teachers and employees.”
Russia protests pension reform, Putin doesn't like them either
The pension dispute dates back more than a decade. A TU Assembly meeting held on September 11, 2009, and a subsequent decision by the TU Executive Council on March 7, 2010, removed provisions allowing professors and employees appointed permanently after September 11, 2009, to receive contribution-based gratuity.
However, the government later implemented a similar provision only for civil servants and employees in other sectors appointed after July 17, 2018. At Nepal Sanskrit University, where the pension system had also been abolished, pensions were later reinstated for permanent employees appointed from mid-July 2018 in line with the government’s decision.
Singh, who has been involved in the protests, said TU officials initially kept the 2009 decision from stakeholders.
“TU officials, who themselves receive pensions, feared backlash over abolishing pensions for others. So they kept the September 11, 2009, decision secret for two years and made it public only on November 14, 2011,” Singh recalled. “To strengthen their decision, TU officials went behind the backs of stakeholders and obtained a letter from the Ministry of Finance on April 15, 2014.”
According to Singh, the Ministry of Finance had never provided TU with a separate fund for pensions. Since the decision to remove pension benefits for employees appointed after September 11, 2009, became known, it has remained a major source of discontent among affected teachers and staff.
He said pension was listed as the first demand when teachers and employees formally raised their concerns with then Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Dharma Kanta Baskota in 2019.
The campaign was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed later under Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Keshar Jung Baral. The TU Executive Council subsequently formed a three-member committee, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Binod Parajuli, to study whether pensions could be restored.
The committee concluded that a pension scheme was financially feasible and identified possible sources of funding, according to the protesting teachers. However, the TU Executive Council has yet to decide whether to implement the scheme.
With no concrete decision forthcoming, teachers and employees say they have been left with little choice but to take their demands to the streets—and university premises.
Assistant Professor Dr. Santa Bahadur Thapa said teachers and employees have been forced to stage an hour-long sit-in every day for an indefinite period.
“Many days have passed since we submitted our demands to Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa on the very first day he assumed office following the Gen-Z protests,” Thapa said at the protest site. “A little financial restructuring of the university’s existing arrangements, along with suggestions from the workforce, could ensure a sustainable pension scheme.”
Assistant Professor Dr. Tilak Bahadur Khatri said TU could manage the pension scheme through its own financial resources without placing an additional burden on the government.
He questioned why the government has responded to the demands of usury victims and other protesting groups but has yet to address the pension concerns of TU teachers and employees.
After 119 days of sit-ins, the protesters say their demand has boiled down to a simple question for TU authorities and the government: When will teachers and employees who have spent their careers serving the university be assured a pension after retirement?
Acting Registrar Prof. Dr. Mahananda Chalise said he was aware of the teachers’ ongoing protests and that university officials were working to resolve the issue.
He said TU officials were sensitive to the pension dispute and had already discussed possible models for addressing it.
“The government has also been making policy-based arrangements according to the time and circumstances. Policies differ depending on specific circumstances,” Chalise told the Republica. “We will hold discussions with the protesting professors and employees very soon and study which model can be adopted to resolve the issue.”
