There is simmering unrest among the teaching fraternity of all the Universities and Colleges of Haryana over the non-implementation of the UGC norms including the age of retirement to that of 65 years.
Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (HFUCTO) has condemned the discriminatory attitude of the present State Government regarding inaction on various issues submitted in the form of memorandums regarding implementation of the UGC norms.
Dr Anil Gupta, President, KUTA (Kurukshetra University Teachers’ Association) and Vice-President HFUCTO while addressing a Press conference here said that the Centre and several States, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar etc have already raised the age of superannuation of teachers in higher education to 65 years.
However, the Haryana Government continues to violate the MHRD notification dated December 31, 2008 and UGC regulations dated June 30, 2010. This is against the MHRD notification which states that in order to meet the situation arising out of shortage of teachers in universities and other teaching institutions, the age of superannuation for teachers has already been enhanced to 65 years. It added that this was necessary to retain teachers in service for a longer period and to attract eligible persons to career in teaching.
Dr Anil Gupta said that the executive meeting of the HFUCTO will be called shortly to decide the course of action over inordinate delay and non-implementation of the age of superannuation of University and College teachers to that of 65 years. We have also decided to meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who is coming for an inauguration function in Kurukshetra University on Monday.
He said that the teachers of the state have made up their mind to go on indefinite strike over this issue.
Dr Avnesh Verma, Secretary, KUTA and HFUCTO said that the Universities and Colleges in Haryana are facing an acute shortage of experienced and qualified teachers as recruitment have been very slow in the last decade. Most Colleges are forced to employ teachers on a contract basis on meager salaries. This has led to a great fall in the academic standards of the Universities as well as of Colleges, he added.