While guest lecturers in constituent colleges of Bharathidasan University are able to become members of teachers' organisations and highlight their grievances, those in self-financing colleges say they continue to suffer silently at the hands of managements.
In terms of remuneration, there may not be much of a difference between the salaries received by guest lecturers in constituent colleges and their counterparts in self-financing colleges. In both cases, the monthly salary rarely exceeds ₹15,000.
In some of the self-financing colleges, there are instances of teachers being paid much lesser. The teachers in self-financing colleges are at a greater disadvantage also because they are overworked and are at the complete mercy of the managements, General Secretary of Aided College Teachers’ Association S. Sahaya Sathish said, acknowledging that there is little scope for the teachers employed in self-financing colleges to air their grievances through teachers organisations.
Seventy eight self-financing colleges account for the largest number of affiliated institutions in BDU. Of the rest, 19 are government arts and science colleges, 10 are constituent/ model colleges, and 19 colleges are government-aided institutions.
Even for guest lecturers of constituent colleges, being members of Association of University Teachers and ACTA is not an easy proposition.
They are under constant fear of being chided by their respective principals, according to the teachers.
This being the case, it is simply not possible for self-financing college teachers, or teachers working in self-financing courses offered through the government-aided colleges to express their plight through any forum, Prof. Sahaya Sathish said.
But not all teachers in self-financing colleges have lost hope. According to a teacher working in a self-financing college for over a decade, there is still hope that the State Government will extend its move to increase the salaries of guest lecturers in government colleges to cover self-financing institutions as well.
As in neighbouring Kerala, where the Self-Financing College Teachers and Staff Association (SFCTSA) has sought enactment of a legislation to prevent their exploitation, the teachers of self-financing colleges in Tamil Nadu also expect the Government to come to their rescue.
A directive by the government to the universities for strict enforcement of the UGC's norms on remuneration is all that these teachers look for.
The UGC had, in its communication issued during 2010 to all Central, deemed and State universities, and all State Education Secretaries about the revised guidelines for the scheme of appointment / honorarium of guest / part-time teachers, specified that the appointees at the level of Assistant Professor should be paid ₹1,000 per lecture to a maximum of ₹25,000 per month.
The letter specifically stated that the contents must be brought to the notice of all the affiliated Colleges/Institutions.
