TG To Consider Contract Lecturers Pay Hike, Say Sources

 Hyderabad: The state government is considering to enhance the pay scales of the contract assistant professors in all the 11 universities of Telangana, according to lecturers’ association who met the Congress ministers recently. It will benefit the junior, polytechnic and degree college contract lecturers and assistant professors of all the universities in the state,the sources of the association added.

A proposal to increase the salaries of these contract lecturers across the state was supported by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and IT minister D. Sridhar Babu, the sources said demanding anonymity.

These contract assistant professors have a common demand of getting absorbed into the payrolls as it was promised by the earlier BRS government in their election manifesto in 2014.

Sources in the association revealed that the present government has responded to the woes of the contract lecturers who in turn would stand by them and prepare an action plan for their cause.

Dr D. Dharma Teja has a similar problem to share. He has been working as a contract assistant professor at Osmania University for the past 29 years, with a hope of being getting absorbed into the varsity payrolls, but unfortunately nothing as such happened.

Dr Teja is not the lone case. There are around 900 contract assistant professors across the state, 174 from Osmania University, 60 from Koti Women’s College and others to name a few had demanded the then BRS government in the past to consider their demands.

Sources highlighted that KCR promised to regularise their services in the party’s 2014 manifesto. These contract lecturers also contributed to the statehood movement, they added.

With a dream of getting into the payrolls of the universities, hundreds of these lecturers have taken up these jobs and did not apply anywhere with a hope that the universities will absorb them as permanent employees. Most of them participated in the statehood movement.Dr Teja said.

The previous government in its two terms did not deliver justice to us. During the course of time, around 25 per cent of the lecturers succumbed to Covid and other ailments, another 25 per cent got retired without any retirement benefits,he said

He further added that those appointed by the UGC norms are drawing Rs 2.5 lakh while he was getting Rs 81,000. The gap in salary is so huge, this is injustice to all the contract assistant professors,he rued.