Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor,
Through esteemed columns of your leading newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the Government towards the plight of underpaid contractual faculties in J&K Degree Colleges through the columns of your esteemed newspaper. My views are detailed below:-
Crying in Wilderness or Fighting for the Cause: Inside the Academic Pay Crisis.
For years, underpaid faculties have been crying in the wilderness for a genuine salary hike, but their pleas have been lost in budget cuts. It is now a cry for the very cause of educational excellence because fighting for a lecturer’s salary hike is no longer just about personal survival. “Tuition fees of students are increasing, but the salaries of educators remain the same.” It is this grave concern of the most qualified, educated and unemployed youths who tried to get their demands fulfilled. The concern of thousands of youths, most of whom have degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) and have qualified for the National Eligibility Test Junior Research Fellowship (NET-JRF). The earlier being the most reputed and highest qualification in our nation and the world. The equal pay for equal work notion does not apply here in Jammu and Kashmir in comparison to the rest of the states. The basic salary is the demand of the hour. “We cannot expect teachers to light the fire of learning if they themselves are burning out from financial strain.” We are paid a meagre salary of 28000 with no experience counted when we apply for other colleges or universities at the pan-India level. This is step motherly treatment of the government towards highly qualified youths. The salary given is not a debt that is returned in installments but should be as per the teaching and the hard work done by the educators. This is a mockery of the educated youths, as this sum fits nowhere, neither the necessities nor the further research work. The salary hike issue is very long and it is requested that the government, the Director of Colleges and the Nodal Principal prioritise it and resolve it.
VijayKumar H K
[email protected]
Raichur, Karnataka
Environmentalist