Advocate Rohit Seth, counsel for the petitioners argued that the 42 professors were recruited till March 31.(Representational Image)
Forty-two assistant professors working in six different government colleges of Chandigarh moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Thursday, seeking directions to be issued to Education Secretary, Chandigarh Administration to allow them to continue in service till the posts are filled in regular basis by direct recruitment through UPSC.
The petitioners had started working as assistant professors in 2019 on contract basis for the 2019-2020 session, the contract period for which ends on May 31, against which they have approached the Tribunal.
Advocate Rohit Seth, counsel for the petitioners argued that the 42 professors were recruited till March 31. However, the session of the college was extended till May, and thus the assistant professors were given extension till May 31.
The petitioners have thus sought that their contract be extended as per the orders pronounced in the case of Kirshan Kumar versus Chandigarh Administration; and Vandana Jain and others versus Union of India, which was decided on March 31, 2011 and allow them the benefit of minimum pay scale plus DA as increased from time to time from the date of their appointment, benefit of vacation salary, salary for preparatory holidays, maternity leave wherever applicable qua the female applicants as granted in the aforementioned cases including all other benefits granted therein including non-replacement by the contractual or ad-hoc appointees.
The counsel for petitioners also stated in the petition that almost all the applicants possess post-graduate qualification in their respective subjects and are NET qualified, in addition to the qualification of doctorate etc.
All the applicants are fully eligible for appointment to the post of teaching faculty (assistant professor) in Union Territory in the College Cadre of Chandigarh.
The regular appointment to the post takes a long time particularly when UPSC is involved and the post cannot be left unmanned keeping in view the interest of the students and their continuation in degree classes. It is relevant to mention here that the number of students in all the colleges is increasing every year and on the other hand teacher and student ratio is to be maintained, argued the counsel.
The Tribunal bench after hearing the arguments has issued notice to the Education Secretary, Chandigarh, and the principals of the government colleges in Chandigarh to file a reply by May 26.