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Ludhiana | Inter-district transfers: Lecturers irked, students initiate signature campaign seeking revocation of orders
Five lecturers from Ludhiana, who have been transferred to other districts, met their local MLAs on Wednesday and requested the education department to reconsider their cases
Irked by the inter-district transfer order of 26 regular college lecturers across the state, the lecturers have been trying hard to get the orders revoked citing family issues and long travelling distance exploiting their monthly budget.
Five lecturers from Ludhiana, who have been transferred to other districts, met their local MLAs on Wednesday and requested the education department to reconsider their cases.
While few teachers have gone on medical leaves and earned leaves, others are yet to be relieved by their former government institutes affecting the studies of students.
“We have no option but to take leaves in order to get our orders revoked. There is no sense of mid-term transfers, that too, a month before the final exams of students. The students were already struggling to cope up with the syllabus in the post graduate classes amid Covid-19; it won’t be possible to complete their syllabus now as there is acute shortage of permanent teachers in the government colleges,” a teacher here said.
The teachers said government initially had recruited and transferred the guest faculties in these government colleges after several new courses were introduced there, but after they protested over their minimal salaries, the permanent staff was moved instead of the guest faculties.
“I am a single parent and look after my daughter and old-aged parents. It won’t be feasible for me to travel every day for around 120 km after spending ₹1,500 fuel each day. Since the Aam Aadmi Party before elections promised to work in the interest of the teachers, we voted for them but we didn’t expect such a change. They should recruit local teachers and generate employment rather than uprooting us from our home towns,” a teacher said.
Another teacher from Patiala shared that she left her previous job to look after her bedridden father but she has been transferred to a faraway district leaving no option for her but to resign.
Students of SCD College, Ludhiana, have initiated a signature campaign, addressing letter to the state education minister, to revoke the transfer order of their subject teachers with less time in their final exams.
‘PU may cancel affiliation with less than two regular faculties’
Meanwhile, according to a senior official in SCD Government College, Panjab University can cancel the affiliation of a course in case of less than two regular faculties for that subject in the campus.
An official said, “We now only have one regular faculty for MA Economics as our other teacher has been transferred to Government College, Shahkot. Despite having nine sanctioned posts for Economics teachers, the department is now managing with four teachers, including a regular faculty. We have submitted our request with the state director, education department, to reconsider the decision.”
Meanwhile, principal secretary Jaspreet Talwar , higher education, said since the new colleges have been opened, they also need affiliations; the regular faculty needs to be recruited there for the smooth functioning of these colleges.
Talwar said, “Teachers should understand that they are not on a permanent assignment at any station and they can be transferred anytime, anywhere as per the requirement. Since we have opened new colleges, it’s our duty to run them efficiently for which we need good staff. Instead of travelling, teachers should shift there and adjust.”
