The State government’s Department of Higher Education has quashed the retrenchment of the permanent employees at NIE Institute of Technology (NIEIT) at Koorgalli in Mysuru and directed the management to reinstate all of them forthwith.

Sharing copies of an order issued by the Secretary to the Government, Department of Higher Education, Khushboo G. Chowdhary, the NIEIT Permanent Employees Hakku Horata Samithi, in a statement here, said the government had directed the management to permit all the affected employees to resume their duties without any break in service.

The Higher Education Department had taken up the case of the employees of NIEIT, whose services had been confirmed since September 2011. However, around 2021-22, steps were initiated for a merger of NIEIT with NIE college.

The employees had questioned the circulars calling upon the existing faculty to apply afresh for the posts and Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) notified in April 2025. They also contended that they had received retrenchment orders, which were allegedly back-dated, and they were thereafter not permitted to discharge their duties.

After going through the contentions of the appellants and the respondents, the Department of Higher Education has ruled in favour of the employees.

The Samithi, in a statement here, said that the inquiry by the Higher Education Department had found that the “retrenchment letters dated June 11, 2025, appeared to be backdated specifically to defeat an interim protection order issued by the Hon’ble High Court on June 12, 2025”.

With regard to the call for re-applications by the employees, the Higher Education Department Secretary had noted that the appellants, who had completed probation “cannot be treated as casual employees or fresh applicants”. Also, the VSS scheme was found to be a unilateral move, lacking the mandatory approval of the Board of Trustees.

In a statement here, the NIEIT Permanent Employees Hakku Horata Samithi said this is not the first time the State has intervened. “We wish to highlight the shocking fact that this is the second time the apex government body on higher education has directed the management to reinstate these employees. An earlier order issued in June 2025 by the same authority was wilfully disobeyed by the management,” it said.

Management’s response

Meanwhile, the management of NIE has denied all allegations made by the petitioners and said it is seeking legal opinion to take further steps.

The NIE IT was facing a steady decline in the number of student admissions over the years and a decision was taken to merge the NIE IT with NIE. Student intake to the institution was stopped in 2021 and the last batch of students graduated in 2025.

While 99 employees were offered the Voluntary Separation Scheme, only 20 availed it and they got their jobs back. Another 70 approached the court. The compensation amount ranged from ₹2 lakh to ₹16 lakh, a representative of the management said.

The petitioners, who were earlier working with NIE IT, had approached the High Court and the cases were disposed of. They had filed contempt proceedings before the High Court and the cases had been closed.

The Department of Higher Education had passed orders “contrary to the law” after 14 petitioners approached the Principal Secretary to the Government of Karnataka’s Department of Higher Education at Bengaluru, the management representative said.