No hanging, releasing from jail, cremation happens after sunset, but midnight joining of teachers in Govt colleges raises eyebrows-Contractual Teachers
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ September 29,2024
“As per the rules no person is to be hanged, no convict is to be released from the jail; woman shall not be arrested after sunset and before sunrise, no one is cremated after the sunset. But all these rules were tweaked on Saturday- Sunday midnight when 1,158 assistant professors and librarians in Punjab were told to join their new place of posting immediately at midnight” said contractual teachers of government colleges.
Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday allowed the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians in Punjab while overturning a single bench ruling which had earlier rejected this recruitment in 2022.
But the same decision and relief has become a pain for the 850 guest faculty, contractual teachers who have been working in govt colleges for more than 20 years, as these new appointments are coming at the cost of contractual teachers who have been working in colleges for more than 2 decades.
Contractual teachers further alleged that “no medical, police verification, documents / certificates were checked, done before the joining. These are mandatory for any person joining a govt job to submit a medical fit certificate, have a good character. But this has not happened in these 1,158 assistant professors and librarians joining case.”
Prof Dharajit Mann Jalvera , a leader of contractual teachers joint front said ” contractual teachers are left in lurch as our age limit has crossed and we become ineligible for other govt jobs. We will stage dharna, protest outside the government college, if we were made scapegoat”
“This process is utterly shady. The education department set up a midnight camp at Mohindra College’s girls’ hostel, asking new teachers to join at 12 and 1 am. This raises security concerns for girl students studying in libraries and hostels at night. We already have issues at Rajiv Gandhi Law University; now you’re creating similar problems at Mohindra College.” said Vandana Moudgil, who worked as a English teacher at Govt Mohindra College.
A Govt Mohindra College teacher Meena Goyal, who shared her story: “I’ve worked as a sociology professor for 19 years, imparting education to numerous students. Despite our hard work, our services haven’t been regularized. Instead, the government has expelled us.”
“There are approximately 850 contractual professors working in Punjab’s colleges. Despite working for many years without regular posting, they have performed their duties diligently. However, last night’s education department order vacated their positions to accommodate the new teachers” said Jai Inder Kaur, president, Punjab BJP Mahila Morcha.
Preneet Kaur, former Patiala MP, added, “It’s absurd to take away employment from these teachers to provide employment to others. What kind of education model is this? The government should secure the future of these teachers who have been educating our children for years. They should create new vacancies or establish a dying cadre, as done in Haryana.”
No hanging, releasing from jail, cremation happens after sunset, but midnight joining of teachers in Govt colleges raises eyebrows-Contractual Teachers . Meanwhile Principal Govt Mohindra College or any higher education department official is contacted on this issue, to get their point of view.
