SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 21: Beleaguered teachers of the state’s affiliated colleges would meet chief minister Hemant Soren over salary payment at par with lecturers of the constituent institutions.
The President of Jharkhand Affiliated Colleges Association Professor Narendra Kumar Singh said that the higher education department has moved files for increasing government grants to affiliated colleges of the state. But teachers of 65 affiliated colleges in the state are not satisfied with the proposal of increasing grants as it is not a permanent solution to the problem.
Prof Singh said affiliated colleges of state have demanded to either make constituent units for all affiliated colleges or pay salaries to their teachers of all institutions (NAAC grading and non- NAAC grading) at par with lecturers of the constituent units.
“Since CM also holds charge of the higher education department, a delegation of Affiliated Colleges Association would meet him next week and put up the demands”, said the president of the association.
Prof Narendra Kumar Singh said that since the chief minister has initiated steps to bail out beleaguered affiliated colleges, teachers are hopeful to get justice in his regime.
According to the spokesperson of the association Prof Uday Pratap Singh, over 65 permanent affiliated colleges are in the state in which over 50,000, students are enrolled in one semester. The college has a strength of over 700 students and gets a Rs 7 lakh state government grant while the institution having below 700 students gets a grant on basis of its strength.
Meanwhile, teachers of BSS Women’s College Dhanbad (an affiliated college) on Thursday shot a letter to CM for bailing out the lecturers who are facing starvation due to a meagre grant from the state government that too comes after six to eight months in a year.
“We have left no option but to knock on the door of the chief minister over our plight as state government’s grant to college does not cater two times meal of the lecturers. So, we have urged him to fix salary payment”, said Prof DK Jha, the senior teacher of BSS College.
