Haryana assembly passes job security Bills for contract educators

The Haryana assembly on Tuesday passed two Bills – the Haryana Extension Lecturers and Guest Lecturers (Security of Service) Bill and the Haryana Technical Education Guest Faculty (Security of Service) - to provide job security to contractual lecturers, guest lecturers engaged by government colleges and guest faculty engaged by government polytechnics and state institute of engineering and technology.

Speaking on the Bills, Congress MLAs, Raghuvir Singh Kadian and Bharat Bhushan Batra sought to know why regular recruitments were not made when a large number of posts are lying vacant. Kadian said that as per the Bill, there were 8,137 sanctioned teaching posts of assistant professors in various subjects in government colleges against which 3,348 regular assistant, associate professors were working. An indent to fill 2,424 teaching posts of regular assistant professors (College Cadre), HES-II Group-B, has been sent to the Haryana Public Service Commission by the higher education department.

“What is the HPSC there for. Such contractual appointments signify another kind of ‘kharchi parchi’. Such appointments were subjective and lacked transparency,” Batra said. The Congress MLA demanded that at least regular pay scales should be given to contractual lecturers if the government is providing security of service to them. “What about 1,500 contract lecturers engaged by universities. They should also be considered for job security. The chief minister should give assurance that contract lecturers in universities will also be provided job security,” Batra said. Chief minister Nayab Saini said the state government will consider Batra’s suggestion.

Congress MLA from Kaithal Aditya Surjewala demanded that the stipulation that a contract lecturer should have worked for 240 days in a calendar year to be deemed to have worked for an entire calendar year should be relaxed as many experienced lecturers would be left out.

Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that if so many vacancies are lying vacant, they should be advertised and filled by the HPSC.

Higher education minister Mahipal Dhanda said the BJP government did not appoint a single contractual or guest lecturers. “The opposition Congress should not misguide people,” Dhanda said. The minister said the number of sanctioned posts increased because the BJP government led by Manohar Lal Khattar set up new colleges. Apart from providing security of service till they retire at the age of 58, the extension and guest lecturers of colleges and guest faculty of polytechnics will also be provided certain financial incentives following the enactment of job security law.

As per the statement of objects and reasons of the Haryana Extension Lecturers and Guest Lecturers (Security of Service) Bill, there were about 2016 contractual lecturers, designated as extension lecturers and 46 guest lecturers working in government colleges. At present extension lecturers and guest lecturers are being paid a remuneration of ₹57,700 per month.

Every eligible extension and guest lecturer who has completed at least five years of service on August 15, 2024, will continue to work as such till he attains the age of superannuation at 58.

A person working as an extension lecturer in government college who has qualified the national eligibility test or possesses a Ph.D qualification as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations on or before June 30, 2023, will qualify for the security of service provisions.

Similarly, a person working as a guest lecturer in government college who has qualified the National Eligibility Test or possesses a Ph.D qualification as per the UGC regulations and was not regularised under the state government’s regularisation policy of June 16, 2014, will qualify for security of service.

The Haryana Technical Education Guest Faculty (Security of Service) Bill passed by the assembly aims at providing job security to guest faculty engaged by government polytechnics, government society polytechnics and State Institute of Engineering and Technology. The guest faculty would mean a person engaged as lecturer, instructor or assistant professor in the institution as on August 15, 2024.

They should have completed at least five years engagement in the institution on the specified workload as on August 15, 2024.

The extension and guest lecturers and guest faculty engaged by polytechnics will be entitled to healthcare benefits as notified under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana Chirayu extension scheme, death-cum-retirement gratuity at equivalent rates specified in the Code on Social Security, 2020, maternity benefits as per the provisions of the Code on Social Security, 2020 and benefit of ex gratia compassionate financial assistance or compassionate appointment in accordance with government policy.