VADODARA, Jan 28: One of the few living authorities on the Atharva Veda and a teacher at M S University's Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya for 22 years, Laxmikant Ghule today depends on others to pay his domestic bills. He's simply unable to make ends meet on his monthly salary of Rs 1,200, less than a university peon's earnings.Being a `temporary' lecturer, Ghule has no retirement benefits to look forward to. His colleagues Mafat Oza and Mahesh Bhatt, too, are in a similar position. They've been appearing for interviews every year to secure a permanent post, but to no avail.Despite the 18 teaching positions in the Mahavidyalaya, only eight are permanent. The only vacancies are in the reserved category. As Mahavidyalay principal H M Pandey explains, ``Though we've put out any number of advertisements, there are no applications, since there are hardly any reserved category scholars or recognised pandits in Ved Shastra.''The paucity of acknowledged scholars makes the situation of Ghule, Bhatt and Oza even more ironical. After years of service, their pay, incidentally, is less than the lowest minimum wage prescribed for a permanent factory worker in the State. This is sourced not from the University Grants Commission or State government grants, but from the interest of the Rs 2-lakh Dongre Maharaj Bhagvat Saptah corpus that the university received during its silver jubilee.``Ours is the only university in the State to teach disciplines as varied as logistics, astrology, Ved Shastra and the social sciences in Sanskrit'', says Pandey, his pride in MSU undiminished by the raw deal it has meted out to renowned scholars. ``The other universities in the State teach Sanskrit only as a language.''The pressure on the faculty does not translate into meaningful returns for scholars like Ghule or Bhatt. Says Ghule, ``There was a time when I had to educate my children and borrowing money was the only way out. When, after repeated persuasion, I could not secure a permanent post, I had to start conducting pujas and narrating paaths to supplement my income.''Admitting that the scenario was none too bright for a faculty that treated its scholars thus, Panday says, ``The only good thing that's happened to the Vidyalay of late is the sanctioning of a grant of Rs 3 lakhs that will allow us to have a building of our own for the first time.''That simple dream has come true after 84 years. Should Ghule and his ilk take it as a good omen?
