According to the association, there are 97 government-aided private colleges in 18 districts of Haryana, where more than two lakh students study in various graduate and postgraduate courses (Representational Image)
OPPOSING THE proposal to pull teaching and non-teaching staff of government-aided private colleges and adjust them in government colleges, the Welfare Association of Management of Private Aided Colleges Friday met Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar to seek his intervention.
The association’s officer-bearers met the minister at his residence in Jagadhari to submit a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The education department last year had initiated a proposal to take over the staff of aided colleges to adjust them in government colleges following the demand of some teachers’ unions. In a communication to the management of aided colleges on July 6, Director General of Higher Education Ajit Balaji Joshi had asked them to submit a list of teaching and non-teaching employees against whom legal cases are pending “so that the further process into (the takeover of staff) can be initiated”.
According to the association, there are 97 government-aided private colleges in 18 districts of Haryana, where more than two lakh students study in various graduate and postgraduate courses “under the guidance of highly qualified and dedicated permanent teachers who are appointed against sanctioned posts according to the norms of UGC/state government”. These colleges are run by “reputed higher educational societies like DAV, Jat Society, Vaish Society, SD Society, MLN Society, Tika Ram Society, Khalsa Society and Hindu College Society”.
“These institutions/colleges depend on the highly qualified and dedicated sanctioned permanent teaching and non-teaching staff who get salary and all other benefits at par with the government staff due to 95 per cent grant-in-aid to the salary of teaching and non-teaching permanent staff by the Haryana government. If sanctioned posts are withdrawn from these institutions/colleges, they will have to depend upon the self-financing system for their survival and it will not be possible to run colleges especially in rural areas…higher education will become very costly and cannot be affordable for poor and middle class students of rural background…the system will totally collapse, which will led to student unrest and common man sentiment against the government,” mentioned the memorandum.
Association president and former MLA Tejvir Singh claimed that the management of about 90 per cent colleges are against the proposed takingover of staff of aided colleges. “If government withdraws 95 per cent salary grant from added colleges, then these will turn into self-financing colleges and won’t get grants from the UGC, RUSA, and other government departments too. With this, the future development and progress of these colleges won’t take place.”
Urging the government to drop the proposal, the association demanded to extend the facilities like of LTC, child care leave, paternity leave, children education allowance, medical allowance and full pension benefits after 20 years of service to the staffers of added colleges similarly to government employees. The association also suggested that the government should create new posts of teaching and non-teaching for government colleges to generate new employment.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Tejvir Singh said: “For the past 100 years, aided colleges have contributed a lot to impart higher education to students. Currently, these colleges have 4,600 staffers including teaching and non-teaching. The higher education will collapse and cause immense loss to students, if the staffers of these colleges are withdrawn.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, education minister Gujjar said, “We will consider their demands.”