Few assistant professors assuming charge at midnight in Ludhiana district raises eyebrows

Following the High Court’s directions, about 1,000 teachers will be joining government colleges of the state as assistant professors of various subjects. At the same time, the question arises why a few of them were asked to join colleges after midnight, around 12 am-1:30 am on Saturday night in the district and what was the urgency that the Education Department did not wait till Monday morning for their joining? Guest faculty assistant professors here rued that they would be rendered jobless as the newly joined assistant professors will replace them.

When asked why was the joining of a few assistant professors done in such a hurried manner in the district and why could not the department wait till Monday morning for their joining, the principal of the Government College for Girls (GCG) here, Suman Lata, said they were servants of the government for 24x7 and when the government gave the orders, they adhered to the same. She said the higher authorities could give answer to these questions. She just obeyed the orders.

The guest faculty assistant professors, about 843 in the state and around 160 in the district, who were teaching various subjects, said the 1,000 plus teachers won the case in the court and were bound to join the post.

Falwinder Singh, a guest faculty assistant professor, said what was the need for the college authorities to call them at midnight to join the services? “We have pictures, which show that the teachers turned up around 12 on Saturday night for joining. Staff and principal of the college were present and gates were locked for all others. We have come to know that several assistant professors were made to join on Saturday after office hours at several places in the state,” he said.

A delegation of the guest faculty assistant professors is also leaving the city to meet the Punjab Speaker at Kotkapura.

“We feel that since the poll code is in force due to the panchayat elections, is it legal to join the posts in this manner? We are also taking the opinion of our legal team,” Singh said.

Guest faculty assistant professors in the district maintained that their future hangs in the balance now, as they would be rendered jobless.

They said: “If the governemnt asked the teachers to join on Monday, we would have raised questions about our bleak future.”

The DPI, Colleges, Sanyam Aggarwal, said the state Election Commission had given the permission on the joining of assistant professors and moreover, they had already waited for long and were eager to join the post. “I have no idea about their joining in odd hours. However, they can join duties anytime,” he said.