Guest lecturers working in government degree colleges across the State who do not have qualifiers like National Eligibility Test (NET), Karnataka State Eligibility Test (KSET), M.Phil, and Ph.D, staged a protest at Freedom Park in the city on Friday, demanding that they be continued in service. 

Will affect academics

“The State government is dismissing more than 5,000 guest lecturers working in government degree colleges in the middle of the academic year citing University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. This is an inhuman and undemocratic move. This will cause serious problems for the academic activities of students,” a protestor said, arguing that it was improper to apply new UGC norms that have made these qualifiers mandatory for even guest lecturers retrospectively who have been serving for many decades.“

“Most of the guest lecturers now being removed have been working for about 15 to 20 years and do not know any other profession and this will affect thousands of families. So they should be continued in service,” one of the protesting guest lecturers said. 

HC stand

Earlier, the High Court had held that guest lecturers who do not meet the UGC standards are ineligible to work in degree colleges. As a result, 5,353 guest lecturers working in degree colleges across the state are expected to lose their jobs. The state government has filed an appeal against this order and the case is still pending in the High Court.

The Department of Collegiate Education has started the process of appointing new guest lecturers in place of these 5000 odd guest lecturers who do not meet the eligibility criteria.