Delay in recruitment of teaching staff for the evening classes in government-aided degree colleges, including DAV (PG) College and DBS (PG) College, is deferring academic activities further. Compounding matters further, members of various students' groups have shuttered the DAV (PG) College on Tuesday, demanding an increase in seats for the evening classes.
However, around 350 teachers have been selected through walk-in interviews by a committee headed by district magistrate concerned in various districts for taking evening classes in around 21 Government degree colleges in the State. Meanwhile, evening classes in two Government degree colleges, including MB Government (PG) College, Haldwani and Government Post Graduation (PG) College, have begun in the State, said higher education deputy director NP Maheshwari on Tuesday.
He said that around 400 teaching staff in the State will be recruited for conducting evening classes in nine government degree colleges in Garwal division while 12 in Kumaon division. The State Government has introduced evening classes in four government-aided degree colleges — DAV (PG) College, DBS (PG) College, MPG College, Mussoorie and SGRR (PG) College — in the State. Admission process and appointment of teaching staff for evening classes is under process, it is learnt.
Moreover, a delegation of Government-aided degree college principals have submitted a memorandum to the higher education directorate and stated that under University Act for the Government-aided degree colleges, the president of college management committee is the appointing authority for the teaching staff. They said the district magistrate has no role to play in such appointments in these colleges. The memorandum was forwarded to the State Government for further action.
Maheshwari further said that the applicants who had passed National Eligibility Test (NET) and State Eligibility Test and were keen on taking evening classes had appeared in walk-in interviews held at district levels recently and 350 teachers were selected by the committee headed by district magistrates concerned. Some retired teachers who were interested in taking evening classes in various government degree colleges were selected too. The teachers who are selected for evening classes would be paid Rs 250 per class. The selected retired teachers aged below 70 would be paid the same amount they had received as salary when they had retired sans the pension amount, he added.
The former DAV (PG) College students' union president Siddharth Rana alleged that the State Government has failed to fulfill the promises made to the leaders of various students' groups who earlier had been protesting in demand of allowing all students to get admission in DAV (PG) College.
The representative of the State Government had promised the students' leaders that the Government would allocate same seats for evening classes as for the morning classes. But DAV (PG) College has allocated only 950 seats while over 2,000 students had purchased admission forms for evening classes. The leaders of various students' groups met the college principal on Monday and submitted a memorandum, demanding hike in seats for evening classes in the college. "We will intensify our protest unless our demands are met soon," he warned.