College contractual lecturers seek LG’s intervention for framing of regularization policy
Sumaya Jan
SRINAGAR, July 14(KINS): Jammu and Kashmir College Contractual Lecturers Association (JKCCLA) has sought the intervention of Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu for framing of regularization policy.
The JKCCLA has written a letter to Lieutenant Governor asking him to frame a policy for the regularization of candidates working as lecturers/teaching assistants on academic arrangement basis in different colleges of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We the academic arrangement candidates of different colleges of Jammu and Kashmir have been working for the smooth functioning of the system for the last 20 years. It has been the academic arrangement candidates working in the different colleges of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir now UT who have kept the skeletal of higher education alive,” the letter reads, a copy of which lies with news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
“We have always worked at par with the permanent faculty (wherever available) of the department. In making the future of the students, academic arrangement lecturers/teaching assistants of higher education department have always contributed to their best. We have carried out all our assignments with complete dedication, enthusiasm, honesty and zest. We have devoted the prime of our youth to the department and have always regarded our services as worship,” it reads.
The letter claimed that the Higher Education Department has never paid any attention to address their genuine demands and grievances.
“The Department is hell-bent to ruin the future of this highly qualified lot as most of the candidates working in the system have crossed the upper age limit or are at the verge of becoming highly qualified overage unemployed youth of the developed democracy. Every second day the Department is using all the means to mentally harass and humiliate the candidates. Whenever we tried to approach the authorities about the same they make lame excuses that this cannot be done as there is no provision,” the letter says.
The letter mentions that the Himachal Pradesh government recently passed an order to regularize all the candidates working on academic arrangement.
“Are we not citizens of India? Have we not qualified the prestigious exam and higher degrees? Then why are the academic arrangement candidates of Jammu and Kashmir being treated like this? Don’t we deserve a better life?”
Besides being appointed on merit basis by a competent authority through proper channels, they said every year they have to compete with fresh candidates to get into the system, “but still we have no job security”.
“While as the previous regimes have considered the low qualified candidates over us by giving them job security in the form of many SRO’s like that of SRO 520, Special Services Provision Act 2010,etc. We are highly qualified candidates having degrees like Ph.D., M. Phil, NET/SLET/JRF. But the departments have never paid any heed to the grievances of the highly qualified and meritorious candidates.”
The letter claims that previous governments have never paid any attention to this issue.
“They have failed to advertise the posts at proper intervals to accommodate the candidates which in turn spoiled the carrier of this highly qualified lot.”
While serving the departments most of them crossed the upper age limit and are now being earmarked as “Educated, Unemployed, Handicapped youth” of the UT.
“Although our nomenclature were continuously altered either as adhoc, contractual, academic arrangement or now need based and anything else, but our determination of being sincere, heartfelt and unfeigned was standstill, but unfortunately our sense of job insecurity has never been addressed. Despite the promises and assurances from different corners (political and bureaucracy) to resolve the awaiting issues of academic arrangement candidates, we would like to apprise you about the fact that we have never been given anything except deceit and despair,” the letter says.
“We would like to avail this unique opportunity in expressing our immeasurable gratitude to the Lieutenant Governor for framing the committee and playing a constructive role to address the issues of the educated marginalized lot. But alas to our surprise the committee report was again against our aspirations and our hopes were vanished,” it reads.(KINS)
