UoM prof gets acceptance letter for post he quit at Goa varsity 26 years ago

In a curious case, a professor of University of Mysore has received a resignation acceptance letter from his previous workplace 26 years after he quit that job and three months before his retirement.

Prof Muzaffar Assadi, Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Mysore, was equally stunned and amused to recently receive this letter from Goa University, where he previously worked.

The letter from Goa University, signed by the university registrar V S Nadkarni reads: "Pursuant to the resolution of the Executive Council in the meeting held on 28.07.1997, post facto approval is hereby conveyed for the acceptance of resignation of Dr Muzaffar H Assadi with effect from 09.07.1994..."

Until 1994, Assadi was a lecturer in the political science department in Goa University.

He began his stint in University of Mysore as a reader in the department of political science.

The contents of the letter indicate that while the university executive council had processed the resignation back then, it had failed to complete the formalities by sending the acceptance letter.

He had joined UoM by submitting the acknowledgement letter for his resignation at Goa University.

A faculty member, when he joins another varsity is put on a 'lien period,' usually extending up to two years, giving an option to return to the previous workplace.

This applies in cases where a faculty member has joined a higher post from the previous post.

While Assadi submitted his resignation after the completion of the lien period, Goa University had failed to send him an intimation of the acceptance of his resignation until now, the professor told DH, remarking that the entire episode was a testimony to the administration system of universities in the country.

The professor has posted about the entire episode on his Facebook page.