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Ludhiana: Guest profs hold stir over lack of job security
The protesters have alleged that the state government has not taken any steps for over two decades to improve the status of guest faculty at the government facilities
Nearly hundreds of guest faculty assistant professors employed in government colleges in the state on Tuesday took to the streets alleging neglect and job insecurity.
The protesters have alleged that the state government has not taken any steps for over two decades to improve the status of guest faculty at the government facilities.
“For years, the government has not hired regular professors for government colleges. To fill the gap, they brought in guest faculty assistant professors. We do the same work as regular staff, but the higher education department still labels us as ‘temporary’ and pays us a meager allowance instead of a proper salary. This is an insult to our dedication,” said Neelima, one of the protesting professors at the Government College for Girls.
In Ludhiana, the protests took place at SCD Government College and Government College for Girls (GCG).
Falwinder Verma, a leader of the protest, said: “Our demands include salary rules with basic pay, 38% DA, 10% HRA, mobile allowance of ₹500 and medical allowance of ₹1,000.”
The ongoing recruitment of 1,158 new professors in government colleges across Punjab has made the situation worse, with guest faculty fearing they will be replaced by new hires despite their years of service.
“The government should appoint these new professors where there is a real shortage of staff or where the new institutions are being set up, not in place of guest faculty,” said Verma.
The guest faculty professors said that they had organised multiple protests over the years to fight for their rights.
“The state government promises to create policies to secure our jobs have remained unfulfilled. “Before coming to power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) promised job security. The government did increase our allowances to some degree but no permanent policy was introduced to provide us with stable jobs or fair pay,” said Shivani Kapoor, a guest faculty at the GCG.
The educators said that they had submitted their demands to local MLAs and MPs but to no avail. They have warned that if their demands are not met, they will intensify their protests.
“We are ready to escalate our protest if needed,” said a protestor.
