Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti has urged Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan to take steps to regularise the services of guest lecturers serving in various first-grade colleges in the State from the last 15 to 20 years.
In a letter to the Higher Education Minister, which has been released to the media, Mr. Horatti has said that the guest lecturers serving for the last 15 to 20 years were qualified to be appointed as full-time lecturers as per the government and UGC (University Grants Commission) guidelines.
“In my earlier letter I had requested you to consider the services of the guest lecturers till the end of the current academic year and also to regularise their services. No I have come to know that the department has initiated the process of appointment of lecturers. Because of the long service these guest lecturers are nearing the stage of exceeding the age limit fixed for appointment,” he said in the letter.
Mr. Horatti has pointed out that despite having adequate teaching experience, these guest lecturers were forced to work for meagre remuneration and struggled all these years to make ends meet.
“No doubt these guest lecturers can teach better than the new teachers. In this backdrop, it is necessary that a cut off date is fixed to facilitate regularisation of the guest lecturers. Subsequently the remaining posts can be filled up through direct recruitment. Otherwise it will be a great injustice to the guest lecturers particularly those on the verge of exceeding the age limit,” he has said.
In the letter, the former Minister has referred to the precedent in this regard. He has said that regularisation of part-time teachers in high schools was done during his tenure as Minister.
He has urged the Higher Education Minister to consider regularisation of the guest lecturers based on the said government order.