JAMMU: Intensifying their protest on the 39th day of continuous hunger strike for the demand of their regularization, hundreds of contractual lecturers assembled outside the Press Club and staged a protest against the State Government’ non serious attitude towards them,
The protest was spearheaded by Arun Bakshi, State President, Jammu and Kashmir (10+2) Contractual Lecturers Forum. The protestors took out a procession and staged sit-in at Dogra Chowk and disrupted the traffic resulting in minor scuffle with police personnel. The police also arrested at least five protesting lecturers including State President Arun Bakshi. The traffic was restored later as agitating lecturers dispersed off peacefully.
Protesters castigated the State Government for paying no heed to the plight of school lecturers engaged on Academic Arrangement on a meager pay scale of Rs 7000 per month.
Urging for the implementation of Apex Court’s decision of ‘Equal pay for equal work’ and Contractual cannot replace Contractual, they regretted that the exploitation of the highly educated youth engaged as academic arrangement on contractual basis in schools on nominal wages is deplorable and inhumane.
Seeking regularisation of the lecturers on academic arrangement in the Education Department, they requested the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Education Minister to frame a policy for inclusion of such lecturers so that the educated youth serving the department can make their families have their just two meals with satisfaction.
Contractual Lecturers Kanchan Bala, Saroj Bala, Amrit Paul and Vijay Kumar sat on hunger strike today.