All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Jayalalithaa on Thursday asked Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to hold talks with striking guest lecturers and regularise their service.
In a statement on Thursday, she said nearly 1,000 guest lecturers were appointed in government arts colleges in 2003-04, during her tenure, to handle new courses.
After working for nearly eight years and expecting regularisation of services, they were informed by the government that they could continue in service only till the appointment of new lecturers or till April 10, whichever was earlier. It will be illegal to remove the guest lecturers from service, as most of them are above 35 years of age and have families that depend on their salaries.
It is unacceptable to replace them with new faculty members, leaving a question mark over their fate, she said.
Recalling that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in its manifesto for the last Assembly elections, had promised to regularise the services of these guest lecturers based on reservation and fill the remaining 1,700 vacancies, Ms. Jayalalithaa asked the Chief Minister to hold talks with the striking lecturers to find a solution.
