Can’t force employees to donate for relief fund: HC

Visva-Bharati had deducted a day’s salary for Cyclone Amphan relief

The teachers’ union constantly at loggerheads with the present administration at Visva-Bharati has claimed moral victory with the Calcutta High Court holding that the university should not have automatically deducted a day’s salary of employees for cyclone relief. After Cyclone Amphan battered parts of West Bengal in May 2020, Visva-Bharati had deducted a day’s salary of its employees to make a contribution to the relief fund. The decision was opposed by the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA), which said while it was all for contributions being made for relief work, such donation can only be voluntary and not binding on the staff.