Rohtak: 580 extension lecturers to get arrears for 20 months

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, June 11

The state government has decided to grant arrears of minimum basis pay for around 20 months (November 1, 2017, to June 26, 2019) to all those eligible extension (contractual) lecturers working in various government colleges across the state, who approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard.

As per sources, the number of such extension lecturers is 580. A communiqué in this respect has also been recently issued by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) to the principals of all government colleges.

“In their petitions filed in the high court, the extension lecturers had said that in compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment, the state government had, in November 2017, issued notification as regards ‘equal pay for equal work’ for contractual employees, but that was made applicable to them in June 2019, hence the government should pay them arrears for that duration. Later, the court’s decision came in favour of the petitioner,” claimed Rampal Badhwar, president of the Haryana College Contractual Teachers’ Association (HCCTA), a body of extension lecturers.

He said since the court verdict was being implemented by the DHE only in case of the petitioners, hence they had written to the Director General (Higher Education) urging him to release arrears for all eligible extension lecturers. “At present, over 2,000 extension lecturers have been working in government colleges and majority of them were appointed before 2017,” he added.

Ishwar Singh, president of the Extension Lecturers Welfare Association, said it would be discrimination with around 1,300 other eligible extension lecturers, if they were not paid arrears. It might even force them to knock the doors of the high court.

“The arrears will be given following the policy of ‘equal pay for equal work’, hence the policy should be applicable to all extension lecturers equally,” he added.

Moved HC on issue

• In November 2017, the state government issued notification as regards ‘equal pay for equal work’ for contractual employees
• That was made applicable to extension lecturers in June 2019, hence they moved HC seeking arrears for that duration
• Now, the state government has decided to grant arrears of minimum basis pay for around 20 months to eligible extension lecturers