Guwahati: A major crisis is brewing at Assam's degree colleges after the state higher education department directed principals of provincialised and government colleges to terminate contractual teachers and non-teaching staff. The move has sparked strong opposition from teachers' and employees' associations, who warned that colleges will face severe disruption if the order is enforced.
Associations Express Resentment
The Assam College Teachers' Association (ACTA), Assam College Principals' Council (ACPC), Assam College Librarian's Association (ACLA), and Assam College Employees Association (ACEA) voiced their resentment during a meeting on Friday regarding the department's instruction to immediately end the services of contractual teaching and non-teaching staff.
The order comes at a sensitive time, with the new academic session set to begin in August and the admission process already underway. The directive, issued by higher education department commissioner and secretary Narayan Konwar, has drawn criticism from key stakeholders in the sector.
Stakeholders to Meet Officials
Sources indicated that ACTA, ACPC, and other stakeholders are likely to meet senior officials of the higher education department on Monday. However, the organisations remain firm in their demand that the order be withdrawn. They argued that qualified contractual staff, who work for modest pay, are essential to the functioning of provincialised colleges, though not in government colleges.
"The community will suffer if we have to lay off all the contractual teachers and employees. In both higher secondary classes and degree courses, the contractual teachers are playing a major role in the classrooms," ACPC general secretary Ranjan Kalita told TOI on Saturday.
Dependence on Contractual Staff
Kalita said dependence on contractual staff is lower in government colleges due to adequate teacher-pupil ratios, but such colleges are few in number. In contrast, provincialised colleges account for more than 300 of the state's 345 degree colleges, and many rely heavily on contractual teachers in higher secondary and degree courses. The college management committees appoint these temporary staff members and pay them from their own resources.
In a recent letter to principals on the "strict compliance of prohibition of engagement of contractual staff for teaching and non-teaching purposes without sanctioned posts," Konwar stated that no provincialised or government college shall engage any person, whether teaching or non-teaching staff, against non-existent or non-sanctioned posts under any circumstances. "Further, in case any contractual staff is presently engaged, the institutions must take steps to discontinue such engagements in accordance with applicable rules and contractual terms, ensuring that due process is followed," the letter added.
Colleges' Justification
Kalita said colleges had not hired contractual staff without reason. In the old provincialised colleges, no new posts were created since 1992 despite a sharp rise in student numbers. "Instead of asking us to discontinue the services of contractual staff, the government should have conducted a survey to ascertain their exact number and the services they have been rendering," he said.
Some institutions warned that without these teachers, they may have to reduce enrolment and shut major courses because of an acute shortage of regular faculty.
The letter further read: "It has further been brought to the notice of the undersigned that certain institutions have engaged personnel on a contractual or ad hoc basis without obtaining prior sanction and in contravention of the applicable statutory provisions, rules, and executive instructions. Subsequently, a number of such contractual appointees have approached courts seeking regularisation of services, leading to legal complications and administrative challenges for the institutions concerned."
