Adhoc University Faculty Offer to Withdraw Court Cases for Fresh Recruitment

Vijayawada:With the Andhra Pradesh government announcing fresh recruitment for filling up vacant posts of faculty members in all government universities by clearing legal tangles, adhoc assistant professors working in these universities have offered to withdraw their court cases, provided their demands like giving time scale are fulfilled.

During the recent budget session of the AP State Legislative Assembly, Education minister N. Lokesh had announced that the state government will take up recruitment in universities by clearing all legal issues within three months, just as they had cleared litigations and successfully recruited over 16,000 teachers for government schools.

The adhoc assistant professors in universities have welcomed the Education minister’s move. But they want their long-pending issues resolved, like fixing a time scale or regularisation of their services, before fresh recruitment is taken up for the remaining vacant posts. They pointed out a similar practice had been adopted by the Telangana government, which ensured job security for the adhoc assistant professors.

They protested that despite having all requisite academic qualifications and experience similar to regular faculty members, they have remained as adhoc assistant professors for several years with a monthly pay ranging between ₹45,000 to ₹50,000 if they have Ph. D. degree and have qualified in NET and SLET. If not, their salaries have been limited to ₹35,000 to ₹40,000.

Referring to the recent Supreme Court order regularising 52 degree lecturers working in aided degree colleges with payment of arrears, the adhoc assistant professors said the state government should regularise them too, instead of forcing them to move the apex court for justice.

They expressed fears over some universities starting performance appraisals for the adhoc assistant professors. They say this raises apprehensions that the government may force them to quit on the pretext of poor performance.

Several aspirants seeking appointment in universities have expressed concern over the state government’s move to take up fresh recruitment. These aspirants pointed out that in the past, government had made two attempts for recruitment, without recruiting anyone.

An aspirant said he had spent ₹10,000 to apply for posts in the universities in 2018 and again ₹30,000 to apply in 2023–24. But there had been no recruitment. Again there is a promise for fresh recruitment. “We don’t know where the money paid earlier has gone,” he stated.

All Universities Contract Assistant Professors Association state president Malli Bhaskar said, “To clear legal tangles in taking up fresh recruitment, we are ready to withdraw court cases, provided we are ensured of job security. We appeal to the state government to take our opinion for making the recruitment hassle free.”