E-Paper
Panjab University panel approves changes to limit contractual staff in private affiliated colleges
Contractual teachers to be hired only when absolutely necessary and when the student-teacher ratio fails to meet UGC regulations
In a move aimed at reducing reliance on contractual staff, teachers at private colleges affiliated with Panjab University will now be appointed on contract basis only when absolutely necessary and when the student-teacher ratio fails to meet the norms outlined in the 2018 University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations.
To meet the UGC norms, the Panjab University (PU) regulations committee has approved changes in the “Conditions of Service and Conduct of the Teachers in Non-Government Affiliated Colleges”. Subsequently, the conditions of service contained in the PU Calendar have also been amended and approved by the PU vice-chancellor.
Among the other changes, in line with UGC Regulation 12, the number of such appointments should not exceed 10% of the total number of faculty positions in a college. The qualifications and selection procedure for appointing them should be the same as those applicable to a regularly appointed teacher. The fixed emoluments paid to such teachers should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly appointed assistant professor.
Further, such appointments should not be made initially for more than one academic session, and the performance of any such entrant teacher should be reviewed for academic performance before reappointing him/her on contract basis for another session.
Also, as per UGC Regulation 11, the minimum period of probation of a teacher will also now be one year, extendable by a maximum period of one more year in case of unsatisfactory performance.
Every teacher will be paid salary and allowances as laid down by the 2009 UGC Regulations, while earlier it was as per minimum pay scale laid down by the university.
The proposal to revamp the conditions of service was initiated by Jagwant Singh, chairman of the regulation committee, after attaining the approval of the vice-chancellor in July 2023. The amendments were approved by the regulation committee in its October 2023 meeting and the same were considered by the syndicate in its meeting that month. However, these were referred back to the regulation committee.
After deliberations, the committee in its meeting on May 29, 2024, decided to move ahead with the clauses that had consensus and were eventually approved by the vice-chancellor.
Jagwant said some of these amendments should have been made decades back and will address many issues for which the university had been facing repeated litigations.
As per the Punjab department of higher education, there are 53 private aided colleges affiliated with PU from districts like Fazilka, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga and Muktsar.
In Chandigarh, 10 private colleges are affiliated with PU, according to the College Development Council, PU.
