NEW DELHI: A job application notice issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) offering only Rs 500 for a 90-minute lecture has invited criticism for it from various quarters. The notice from the Department of Centre of Arabic and African Studies- School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies, JNU dated September 18, 2023, had invited applications for remedial tutors.
It said that an honorarium of Rs 500 per class of 90 minutes will be paid, subject to the availability of funds. The amount of the honorarium took a lot of people by surprise on social media. Abhay Kumar, a history PhD student at JNU, wrote on his social media handle, “JNU professors get salary in lakhs and a guest teacher for taking remedial classes for as long as 90 minutes is to be paid just Rs 500. Nothing can be so shameful and exploitative than this.”
Saib Bilawal, another history scholar at JNU posted, “It is a shameful state of JNU today. Offering jobs at Rs 500 per 1.5 hours of teaching (subject to availability of the fund). Yes, they can decide to not pay at all. Central university levels of pay at the very least must be maintained for such work.”
Speaking to this newspaper, Mujeebur-Rahman, chairperson of the Centre of Arabic and African Studies, said, “These rates are decided by the university. We have nothing to do with this. Our office had this proforma with them and they issued this notice on that basis. Our department has a total of nine teachers with 250 students. As of now, the notice was issued to hire three remedial tutors.”
Shraddha Pal, currently an assistant professor at SFUS University, who worked as a remedial tutor from 2013 to 2014 at the Centre of Russian Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU, said, “In 2014, the salary for a remedial tutor was only Rs 250 for a 90-minute lecture whereas since I was a JRF, I was not paid anything since it was a part of the experience.”
She added, “I believe people who want to add the job experience to their CVs don’t look at the money. Also, as part of PhD studies, students are generally asked to remain engaged in remedial tutoring. However, even a painter gets Rs 700 for his day’s work. The teachers’ worth should be valued.”
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