Kathmandu, October 3
Tribhuvan University has recovered Rs 167.1 million from professors and employees found to have misused study leave.
According to a report submitted to TU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Bhola Thapa on Friday by the Study Leave Management Implementation Committee, the university has recovered the amount from 77 people.
The report states that the accounts of 18 people, involving Rs 44 million, have been calculated but the amount has yet to be recovered. Around 40 professors and employees are currently in the process of returning the money, according to the university.
The university has identified around 450 professors and employees as having misused study leave. So far, only around 17 percent have returned the money, while 83 percent have yet to do so.
The government has considered the recovery of the money an achievement. However, TU has yet to recover the remaining amount from those who misused study leave.
The committee submitted its report after its term expired.
The university had formed a committee under Dr Jeevan Kafle after an Onlinekhabar report published on November 22, 2024, reported that TU professors who had gone abroad on study leave were staying there instead of returning to the university.
The committee found that 450 professors and employees had misused study leave. The committee had initially investigated 398 cases before around 50 additional files were subsequently found.
After the committee submitted its initial report, the university formed the Study Leave Management Implementation Committee under Kafle to recover the money from those who had misused study leave.
The committee was formed on August 13, 2025, and was given a one-year mandate. It began the recovery process after its formation.
According to the committee, around 250 professors and employees who went abroad on study leave did not return, while another 200 returned without completing their studies.
Committee coordinator Kafle said the amount recovered was relatively low partly because the university had not made a decision on how to deal with employees who returned without completing their studies.
“The executive body did not make a decision regarding those who returned without completing their studies, so the process could not move forward. There was no clarity on how much should be recovered or how it should be recovered,” Kafle said.
He said the committee had been given a one-year term and had therefore submitted its report. Further action can now be taken through the Registrar’s Office, he said.
“The committee believes that since study leave is an ongoing matter, it can now be managed through the regular administrative system,” the report states.
The committee concluded that collecting current information on teachers and employees who took study leave but failed to fulfil their service obligations, verifying their financial records and preparing the necessary documents remained challenging.
Under TU’s Teachers and Employees Service Rules 2050 BS, teachers who take study leave for more than three years and up to five years are required to serve the university for at least five years after returning.
Those who take three years of study leave are required to serve the university for at least three years after returning.
Employees who fail to return after their study leave are required to repay the salary and allowances received from the university during the leave period, along with 10 percent interest, under an undertaking signed before taking leave.
However, the university has found that many teachers and employees resign without repaying the money and remain abroad.
Many teachers have gone to countries including the United States, Australia and Canada on study leave. Some have gone on scholarships, while others have travelled at their own expense. Some have obtained permanent residency in those countries after their study leave expired.
The university said it would give professors and employees who have not been in contact until mid-January to repay the remaining amount.
“We will give them time until mid-January. We will recover the university’s money by whatever means necessary,” TU Registrar Rabindra Shiwakoti said.
He said the remaining work would now come under the Registrar’s Office following the submission of the committee’s report.
“We have set up a help desk at the Registrar’s Office and assigned four employees. They will look after both teachers and employees,” he said. “Until now, a committee was handling the matter. Now the work will come under the Registrar’s Office.”
The committee has also recommended policy decisions to make the study leave system more systematic.
“Policy decisions are necessary to manage study leave. We have recommended measures to make the system more systematic,” Kafle said.
Tribhuvan University provides paid study leave to help produce qualified academic staff. However, the misuse of study leave has resulted in financial losses, academic difficulties and other institutional costs for the university, particularly as the number of employees who fail to return after completing their leave has increased.
