JKNPP demands regularisation of jobs of contractual lecturers

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) staged a demonstration here today, demanding salary hike and regularisation of services of contractual lecturers in the state.
Led by JKNPP chairman and former Education Minister Harsh Dev Singh, more than 100 activists and contractual lecturers took part in the protest at the Exhibition Ground.
Alleging that the state government has turned a deaf ear to repeated representations of the lecturers, Singh said it is unfortunate that "such highly qualified youths are being paid Rs 7,000 per month in higher secondary schools and polytechnics and Rs 8,000 in colleges".
Their salary has not been revised for the last more than 12 years, he claimed and sought intervention of Chief Minister Mehabooba Mufti in the matter.

He said many lecturers employed in hilly and remote areas had shown reluctance to join services in view of negligible emoluments. As a result, majority of educational institutions in these areas are facing shortage of staff.
Contractual lecturers do as much work as those in regular service but the huge difference in their salaries and emoluments is "unjustified, unconstitutional, illegal and in contravention of the principle of equal pay for equal work enshrined in the Constitution", he said.