These teachers even refused to take classes after receiving instructions from the NU vice-chancellor at a time when the largest public university of the country could not provide quality education due to shortage of teachers.

In a letter on June 26, the NU VC directed 38 teachers to take classes at Government Bangla College, Eden Girls' College, Shaheed Suhrawardi College, and Bhawal Badre Alam Government College. But the VC was forced to withdraw the notice within two days following strong opposition from the teachers' pool.

The teachers also allegedly misbehaved with VC Prof Wakil Ahmed, Dean Sher Mohammad and other top officials for issuing the notice.

"It was the first time that I initiated a programme to send 38 teachers to four colleges for taking classes. But I was compelled to postpone the programme in the face of protest from the teachers," Prof Wakil told The Daily Star. "They alleged that words used in the notice were incorrect and indecent."

The idea of a teachers' pool was introduced in 1992 by appointing four teachers so that teachers can be sent to NU-affiliated institutions for taking classes. The number of teachers has gradually reached 86, 50 of them recruited during 2003-04, allegedly on political consideration.

According to NU service rules, teachers are supposed to be present on the NU campus in Gazipur on every office day, but following NU higher authority's direction they will have to go to any of the 1,600 NU-affiliated colleges to take classes.

But there are allegations that these teachers do not come to the NU campus regularly and usually sign attendance registers once a week or two.

These teachers draw around Tk 10 lakh in monthly salaries. "Their basic salaries range between Tk 12,000 and Tk 18,000," said an official of the NU accounts section.

The teachers had never been asked to take classes before the June 26 notice, NU officials said. NU Teachers' Association President Prof Fakir Rafiqul Alam, however, claimed that one teacher was sent to Ananda Mohan College in Mymensingh in 2003.

On the June 26 notice, Rafiqul told The Daily Star, "We protested because nepotism worked while making the list of the 38 teachers. Besides, 12 of these teachers are on study leave. The language of the notice was also incorrect and indecent."

These teachers got involved in other activities like checking exam papers and inspecting educational institutions before introducing any new course. Many also take part-time classes at private institutes for higher financial benefits.

There are allegations that a few of these teachers do not even have proper educational qualification and submitted false certificates at the time of recruitment.

These teachers also allegedly take bribes from different colleges during inspection.

On June 14, Barisal Mahanagar College Principal M Khairul Alam filed a general diary with Joydevpur Police Station in Gazipur saying NU Assistant Teacher ANM Fazlul Haq Saikat and 12 other teachers and officials beat him mercilessly.

He alleged that he gave Fazlul Haq Saikat Tk 1.5 lakh on June 4 for granting permission to run BA and BSS courses at his college. "The permission is yet to be granted and they beat me when I asked them to return the money," he said.

NU Officers' Association condemned the incident and issued two days' ultimatum to the VC for taking stern action against these teachers. The NU authorities formed a probe committee but it is yet to submit the report.

The NU syndicate is virtually inactive and the VC mainly deals with vital issues like recruitment of new teachers and officers. "The NU VCs have so far been appointed mostly on political consideration and they did not take any action to stop these irregularities," an NU official said.

Prof Wakil said a probe committee has been formed to investigate the allegations against these teachers and stern action will be taken if the allegations are proved.

"The NU recruited these teachers to help colleges that do not have sufficient teachers to complete their academic courses. The teachers are recruited through BCS [Bangladesh Civil Service] examinations under the Public Service Commission, but the colleges do not get sufficient teachers due to delay in PSC recruitment," said NU Officers' Association President Enamul Karim.