MADURAI: Observing that most of universities and colleges operate with guest faculties, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday advised the central and state governments, University Grants Commission (UGC), and other statutory bodies to fill all teaching vacancies in higher educational institutions on permanent basis by appointing qualified persons.
Justice Battu Devanand, in his order, said every student is entitled to get quality education. When the vacancies of sanctioned posts are not filled on a permanent basis, the ultimate sufferers would be the students. Timely recruitment of faculty on a permanent basis is the primary factor in imparting quality education, but most institutions operate with ad-hoc and guest faculty, he criticised.
Moreover, the action of keeping sanctioned posts vacant for years and appointing staff on consolidated pay or daily wages is nothing but exploitation, he added. The observations were made while passing orders on a 2014 petition filed by S Ramesh, who worked as a guest lecturer for more than 23 years as his request for regularisation was not accepted citing ineligibility.
“Many institutions fill up posts with guest faculties who are made to do all work but on a meagre pay. After working for years, these staff would reach the maximum age limit for regular recruitment and would be left without financial or job security,” he said. The government has to formulate a policy to regularise services of these staff or at least ensure a remuneration by following the principle of ‘equal work, equal pay’, the judge added.