Revised Leave Rules and Health Scheme of State Aided College Teacher

Government of West Bengal
Department of Higher Education
Technical Branch
Bikash Bhavan, 6th Floor, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700091.

No. 475-Edn(Tech)/10M-07/2022 Date: 19/12/2022

ORDER

Service conditions and other benefits for Government approved Part Time Teachers (PTTs) and Guest Teachers engaged in different Government Engineering and Technological Colleges in the State of West Bengal up to 13.07.2019 have been restructured under Memorandum No. 31-Edn(T)/EH/O/CS/4A-57/2019 dated 22.01.2021 in supersession of all previous orders in this regard and nomenclatures of such teachers have been changed to State Aided College Teacher (SACT).

Whereas the above mentioned G.O. is devoid of benefits of (i) Leaves like casual leave, medical leave, maternity leave, study leave and (ii) Swasthya Sathi Scheme which had earlier been enjoyed by the erstwhile Government approved Part Time Teachers, the State Government in the Department of Higher Education has no objection to allow SACTs leaves as described here below in supersession of all previous orders in this regard.

Casual Leave

State Aided College Teachers (SACTs) of Government Engineering & Technological Colleges are entitled to avail of 14 (fourteen) days casual leave in a calendar year with full remuneration.

Medical Leave

State Aided College Teachers (SACTs) of Government Engineering & Technological Colleges are entitled to avail of 20 (Twenty) days medical leave with half (1/2) remuneration in a calendar year on production of medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner.

Such medical leave with half (1/2) remuneration can be commuted to and in that case SACTs are entitled to avail of 10 (ten) days commuted medical leave with full remuneration in a calendar year on production of medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner.

Unutilized medical leave with half (1/2) remuneration or commuted medical leave with full remuneration in a calendar year, shall be allowed to be carried forward to the following year, subject to accumulation of a maximum of sixty days (with half remuneration) or thirty days (with full remuneration), and the accumulated medical leave may be utilized from time to time depending on the type of medical need but not exceeding thirty days at a time (with full remuneration), subject to submission of medical documents to the satisfaction of the college authority.

Maternity Leave

State Aided College Teachers (SACTs) of Government Engineering & Technological Colleges are entitled to avail of maternity leave as admissible under Government rules.

Quarantine Leave

Whereas, in consequence of the presence of an infectious disease in the family or household of a State-Aided College Teacher (SACT-I & II) of all Government Engineering and Technological Colleges in the State of West Bengal or his/her place of duty, residence or sojourns, his/her attendance at his/ her office is considered as hazardous to the health of other co-employees, such State-Aided College Teacher (SACT-I & II) of the Government Engineering & Technological Colleges may be granted quarantine leave.

2. Quarantine Leave is a leave of absence from duty necessitated by order not to attend office in consequence of the presence of infectious disease in the family or household of such employees as stated above. Such leave may be granted on the basis of a certificate of a Public or Municipal Health Officer or Registered Medical Practitioner for a period not exceeding 21 days or in exceptional circumstances for a period not exceeding 30 days. Quarantine leave, which is not debited to leave account, may be combined with any other kind of leave except casual leave.

3. Such employee, as stated above, on quarantine leave will be treated as absent from duty with full pay and allowances, when he/ she is ordered by the Head of the Institution of the Government Engineering & Technological College, as the case may be.

4. With the passage of time, outbreak of some other diseases in the country had been considered to be infectious of which COVID-19 has been declared Pandemic by WHO.

5. Now. after careful consideration and taking the valued opinion of Health & Family Welfare Department of this Government, the undersigned is directed to include the follow ing five diseases in the list of infectious disease under Quarantine Leave in the Leave Rules for State-Aided College Teacher (SACT- I & II) of the Government Engineering & Technological Colleges-

a. SARS
b. MARS
c. COVID-19
d. Avian Influenza (H5N1) / Novel Influenza
e. Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF)

Study Leave

Considering the necessity of acquiring higher degrees by SACTs towards improvement of the quality of teaching in the State’s higher educational institutions, the State Government is pleased to order that the SACTs shall be entitled to avail themselves of Study leave, to be granted by the Governing Body of the college and subject to approval of the State Government, for the purpose of pursuing further studies and acquiring higher degrees for a maximum period of 12 months in one spell and for a period not exceeding 24 months in their entire service period, provided the concerned teacher has put in at least three years of service and is not due to retire within five years of his/her return from such leave. There shall be a gap of at least three years between two periods of such leave.

The State Government is further pleased to order that a SACT when granted study leave shall upon his/her return and rejoining the institution, shall be eligible for receiving the monthly remuneration accrued during the said leave period (and periodical enhancement of remuneration notionally), as admissible, which he/she would have earned in course of time if he/she had not proceeded on study leave. On return from the study leave, he/she will submit a certificate from the competent authority relating to satisfactory completion of higher degree or submission of thesis etc., to the satisfaction of the college authority. The said leave period will count towards their total length of service for calculating the admissible service benefits.

Further, before proceeding on the study leave, the concerned SACT will be required to execute a Bond/ Undertaking that he/she will serve the institute for at least three years after acquiring the higher degree. However, the concerned SACT may be permitted during the bond period to join any Government College or Government aided college in the event of selection by the West Bengal Public Service Commission or the West Bengal College Service Commission, as the case may be. The study leave granted to a SACT shall be deemed to have been cancelled in case it is not availed of within twelve months of sanction.

Group Health Insurance Scheme named “Swasthya Sathi”

The issue of providing a comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme to the serving SACTs of Government Engineering & Technological Colleges of West Bengal has been considered by the State Government with a view to providing such persons and their families’ protection from the financial consequences of ill health.

2. The State Government is pleased to extend the benefit of the Group Health Insurance Scheme namely “Swasthya Sathi” as contained in Finance Department’s Notification no. 1104-F(P) dated 25.02.2016 to the serving SACTs of Government Engineering & Technological Colleges of West Bengal.

3. The main features of the Scheme are:

i) The Scheme will have basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs per annum.
ii) There will be no cap on the family size.
iii) Critical illness like, Cancer, Neuro Surgeries, Cardiothoracic Surgeries, Liver diseases, Blood disorders etc. will be covered up to Rs. 5.0 lakh.
iv) All pre-existing diseases will be covered.
v) The entire premium will be borne by the State Government with no contribution from the beneficiaries.

4. The Scheme will be implemented by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal.

5. The Scheme for the aforesaid category of teachers/ employees will be effective from the date of issuance of this order.

This order issues with the concurrence of the Finance Department (Group-P1), vide their U.O. No. Group P1/2022-2023/0344 dated 05/12/2022.This will be effective from the date of issuance of this order.

Sd/- Deputy Secretary

No. 475-Edn dated 19.12.2022, Source