RONO HILLS, Sep 5: As the rest of the country was celebrating Teachers’ Day, the Rajiv Gandhi University Teachers Association (RGUTA) today staged a silent protest march in the premises in solidarity with the Federation of Central University Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) and the All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO), wearing black bands and holding placards in support of the all-India protest event.

University and College teachers across the nation are protesting the government’s non-implementation of the 7^th Pay Commission recommendations, in addition to few other issues that include removing of the VIth Pay Commission anomalies which had left out University Librarians, PE teachers & Academic staff out of its purview. The teachers are also demanding that all the vacant posts in various Universities be filled on a permanent basis and not by resorting to contractualisation, as well as the regularisation of long-serving employees and proper implementation of the Reservation Policy.

Another matter that the University teachers want changed is the scrapping of the Academic Performance Indicator (API) that are now mandatory for career growth, and instead to ensure time bound promotions, as is done in other central government services. Under the present system, in order to achieve promotion there are marks for teachers on attending international and national conferences and on getting journals published. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also proposed to award marks to the teachers who bag  Padam Shree, Gnan Peeth and Bhatnagar awards and such other decorations which would inevitably force teachers to concentrate only on accumulating API marks at the cost of teaching, the organisations felt.

They pointed out that while the policy of the Central Government is to grant at least three promotions in career to all the employees, the UGC has stipulated these conditions that deny third promotions to teachers. This would be a dampener for young teachers whose career advancement is sought to be blocked.

The teachers in their protest also pointed out the funds reduction in higher education and the commercialisation of education. It appealed to the government for a re-look at the setting up of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), a not-for-profit organisation that will seek to leverage funds from the market and supplement them with donations and CSR funds. These funds are to be used to finance improvement in infrastructure in top institutions and will be serviced through internal accruals, as proposed by the government.

The organisations maintain that these measures, in the long term will negatively impact education service delivery, and called for an increased involvement of teachers in policy making.

Arunachal Pradesh College Teachers’ Association (APCTA) alsoobserved “Protest Day” in solidarity with “court arrest programme” of All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organization (AIFUCTO) held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

17 Government Colleges of Arunachal Pradesh under the banner of APCTA observed the protest at their respective Colleges by boycotting the Teachers’ Day celebration and performed their duties by wearing Black Badges. They also staged dharna in their campuses.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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