“While the University of Jammu has granted extension to the contractual lecturers appointed during 2019-20 session in its various departments for another one year in view of corona pandemic, the J&K Higher Education Department has most unceremoniously announced termination of contractual appointments of college lecturers engaged during the previous year and holding fresh contractual appointments after June 30, 2020”. This was stated by Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman-JKNPP and former Minister on Friday.

He said that if the Jammu University has found it inexpedient and unreasonable to replace contractual lecturers by a fresh batch of contractuals, why shouldn’t the J&K Higher Education Department follow the similar sensible approach during the prevalent Covid-19 crisis and allow extension to the existing teaching faculty for a tleast next one year. He said that government should consider filing up the available posts in these educational institutions through regular appointees rather than replacing one set of contractuals with another which would only lead to resentment and demoralization amongst the educated youth.

He said that “use and throw policy” with regard to educated youth has already antagonized the younger generation and could lead to disastrous consequences.

Lambasting further the Education Department for discontinuation of 550 ‘subject specific teachers’ appointed under RMSA without assigning any reason, Harsh termed the government move as highly abhorrable and contemptuously retrograde.
“The aforesaid candidates had been appointed under RMSA now rechristened as SAMAGRA.

And whereas their counterparts under the same scheme appointed as vocational teachers, special education teachers and computer education teachers have been allowed to continue, the ‘subject specific teachers’ have been terminated in the most arbitrary manner without assigning any reason reportedly to fill up the resultant posts through some blue eyed favourites of the helmsmen. He regretted that despite the budget for the said SAMAGRA posts being provided by the centre, the J&K Education Department had deprived the eligible youth of the benefits of employment,” he said.

Likewise, the disengagement of Health employees of Jammu division appointed under SRO-24 and termination of Information Department employees during the currency of Corona pandemic had stoked the fires of disaffection amongst the youth against the discriminatory and authoritarian moves of the government.

Similarly the non release of wages of daily rated casual and other need based workers had sparked massive outrage among the lower rung employees.

Referring to the statements made by the official Spokesman of the J&K government in the media, that 10,000 posts will be filled up with preference to some selected categories, Harsh called for publishing of new recruitment rules in the official gazette as no recruitments can be done without notifying the rules. And while the rules are nowhere, the government’s repeated statements of new recruitments would be nothing more than a ridiculous surmise, said Singh.