Guest lecturers, who have been on agitation in their respective districts for more than a month demanding job security, are planning to shift the agitation site to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence in Hubballi.
Addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, Jagappa Talwar, State organising secretary of the Federation of First Grade Degree College Guest Lecturers’ Association, said that they had been left with no option but to intensify their agitation to get their demands fulfilled.
“The Government appears to be least bothered about the serious job security issues being faced by around 14,500 guest lecturers serving in different government colleges across the State. Many States in the country, including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu, have given job security to the guest faculty and we are demanding the same in the State. Ours is a just and easily implementable demand. But the Government is showing little interest in it. We have been left with no option but to intensify our agitation. We are planning to continue our centralised agitation either outside Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence in Hubballi or at the Siddaganga Mutt premises in Tumakuru,” Mr. Talwar said.
Rejecting outright the Government’s order issued on January 14, Mr. Talwar said that the order would push the guest lecturers from the frying pan into the fire.
“The Government termed the order in question as a Sankranti gift to agitating guest lecturers. But, it is, as a matter of fact, a death knell for 14,500 guest lecturers. The Government is propagating that it has increased the guest lecturers’ honorary payment three times. It is a blatant lie. It is going to downsize the guest faculty by half and pay the increased salary to the remaining staff after mounting tremendous work pressure on them. A guest lecturer who worked eight hours a week to get ₹13,000 a month would have to work 15 hours a week to get around ₹20,000 a month. Half of 8,500 guest lecturers would lose their jobs and their work would be transferred to the remaining guest faculty,” Mr Talwar said.
Referring to what the Government often termed as a “legal hurdle” in the way of fulfilling the guest lecturers’ demands, Mr. Talwar suggested that the Government amend the required laws to meet the demands.
“It is not a question of just one person but that of 14,500 families. There are many people who have put in 10-15 years of their services as guest lecturers. Many of them have crossed 50 years. If they are fired from their jobs, where should they go? How would their families survive? What about their aged and ailing parents dependent on them? Law is not static but dynamic that needs to be modified to keep it with the changing time and conditions. There are many instances in the past where the government had amended the laws for the interests of the public servants. In this case also, we urge the government do the same as it is the question of 14,500 families,” Mr Talwar said.
