The agonising wait of guest lecturers of government arts and science colleges to get pending salaries has not ended.
There are 2,423 guest lecturers in the first shift and 1,661 in the second shift in 59 government arts and science colleges. The higher education department had recently announced sanction of ₹36 crore towards salary for 11 months for the 1,661 guest lecturers in the second shift.
The amount has been apportioned college-wise for disbursement for the teachers. The sense of uncertainty for the 2,423 guest lecturers in the first shift is, however, far from over. The sanction of the salary initially for the guest lecturers in the second shift and, subsequently, for those in the first shift has been in vogue.
A senior guest lecturer says many are in penury and expect the government to complete the process of salary disbursal in time such that the loans they have taken from private lenders to run their families could be repaid before Diwali.
The guest lecturers face difficulty in securing personal loans from banks since they get their salaries only for 11 months in a year. They are required to forgo salary for May.
However, this time around, the teachers in the first shift apprehend that the salary will be delayed further until the process of filling the post of principal in about 40 B-grade colleges is completed.
Subsequently, the higher education department also conducts transfer counselling for teachers whereafter a certain number of guest lecturers are shown the door in the event of regular vacancies being filled.
These teachers end up in a crisis situation, as they will not be able to seek jobs in self-financing colleges also in the midst of an academic year.
