Haryana to enact law to provide job security to contractual educators

The Haryana government will enact a law to provide job security to contractual and guest lecturers engaged by government colleges and guest faculty engaged by government polytechnics and state institute of engineering and technology.

Two separate Bills – the Haryana Extension Lecturers and Guest Lecturers (Security of Service) Bill and the Haryana Technical Education Guest Faculty (Security of Service) Bill will be tabled in the assembly next week.

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.

The move to provide job security to educators is in line with an earlier ordinance approved by the Council of Ministers to provide job security to 1.20 lakh contractual employees till they superannuate.

Move to benefit over 2,000 extension & guest lecturers

Officials said that there were about 2,016 contractual lecturers, designated as extension lecturers, and 46 guest lecturers working in government colleges. The engagement of extension lecturers was started in 2010 when they were paid a remuneration of ₹200 per period. Guest lecturers engaged before 2014 were not regularised under the regularisation policy of June 16, 2014. At present, extension lecturers and guest lecturers are being paid a remuneration of ₹57,700 per month.

Income criteria for educators hiked to be eligible for job security

While contractual employees earning more than ₹50,000 a month were not to be covered by the security of service legislation promulgated through an ordinance by the state government in August before the assembly elections, the income criteria for extension and guest lecturers of colleges and guest faculty of polytechnics has been increased by the state government.

As per the Bill, 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.

A separate legislation to provide job security to guest faculty engaged by government polytechnics, government society polytechnics and State Institute of Engineering and Technology will also be tabled in the House next week. The guest faculty would mean a person engaged as lecturer, instructor or assistant professor in the institution as on August 15, 2024.

To be eligible for security of service, the guest faculty should have been engaged on or before November 12, 2019, as per the qualifications prescribed in the Haryana Technical Education Department (Group-B) Service Rules, 2001, or engaged after the November 12, 2019, as per the qualifications prescribed in the Haryana Technical Education Department (Group-B) Service Rules, 2019. A person engaged in such branches for which no service rules were in force at the time of their engagement but was engaged as per the minimum qualifications mentioned in the advertisement or was engaged as an instructor as per the qualifications prescribed in the Haryana State Technical Education Department, Technical Field Staff (Group-C) Service Rules, 1998; or engaged as instructor in such branches for which no service rules were in force at the time of their engagement but was engaged as per the minimum qualifications mentioned in the advertisement. They should be engaged as lecturer, instructor or assistant professor as guest faculty in the institution and should be in the service as on August 15, 2024, at a monthly remuneration of ₹53,100 for guest faculty lecturer, ₹35,400 for guest instructor and ₹55,500 for guest faculty assistant professor respectively per month. They should have completed at least five years engagement in the institution on the specified workload as on August 15, 2024.

Health care, maternity care benefits for contractual educators

The extension and guest lecturers and guest faculty engaged by polytechnics will be entitled to health care 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.

If the extension and guest lecturers of colleges and guest faculty of polytechnics worked for at least 240 days in a calendar year, they shall be deemed to have worked for the entire year. However, it shall not include an employee who attained the age of 58 on August 15, 2024, or was terminated or removed by the appropriate authority or resigned on or before August 15, 2024.