Fearing work loss, extension lecturers demand job security

QUOTE

“When school guest teachers can be assured job security till the age of 58 years, why not extension lecturers?

- Rampal Badhwar, president, All-Haryana Extension Lecturers’ Association

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, March 13

The state government’s move of taking over the grant-in-aid staff working in government-aided private colleges and adjusting them in government colleges has created a flutter among extension lecturers working as resource person for the past several years at government colleges across the state.

They fear that they would lose their jobs if teaching employees of aided colleges are adjusted in government colleges without taking care of their interests.

They have also started demanding job security till the age of retirement on the pattern of school-level guest teachers.

“At present, over 1,800 extension lecturers have been working in government colleges for the past eight years at the salary of Rs 25,000 per month in order to cope with the shortage of regular teachers. All of them are either NET-qualified or PhD holders. They are employed in only those colleges where workload is there,” said Rampal Badhwar, president, All-Haryana Extension Lecturers’ Association (AHELA).

Badhwar maintained they were not against the merger of grant-in-aid staff of aided colleges with government colleges. But the job security of extension lecturers should be ensured before making the move operational. The number of lecturers is more than 2,000 in government-aided private colleges, he said.

“When school guest teachers can be assured job security till the age of 58 years, why not extension lecturers?” he said.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Higher Education held a meeting with principals/ presidents of government aided colleges and representatives of their associations in Panchkula on Wednesday to receive suggestions on the issue.

“We have suggested that grant-in-aid staff is ready to join the government sector if they are given all benefits on a par with government lecturers. We have also put another condition that all pre and post-merger liabilities will be of the government in case of merger,” said Dayanand Malik, president, Haryana Government-Aided College Teachers Association.