Student body extends support to protesting professors

The protest launched by the activists of the Guest Faculty United Front received a shot in arm when students of government colleges announced their decision to support the demands raised by guest assistant professors following the state government’s move to appoint 1,158 lecturers and librarians in pursuance of a court order.

Office-bearers and activists of various units of Progressive Students’ Union led by Malerkotla president Kamaldeep Kaur announced that they would support their teachers and mentors, who had supported the college education for years at meager emoluments.

“Like our protesting assistant professors, we also have no objection over the appointment of regular staff. However, we demand that the government should also take the interests of the guest faculty into consideration,” said Kamal Kaur.

Earlier, activists of the Guest Faculty United Front led by Sukhchain Singh and Pritpal Kaushik had threatened to intensify the stir in case the Punjab Government tried to ruin their lives.

Speakers, including Sukhchain Singh, Pritpal Kaushik, Paramjit Singh and Merry Nachaal, alleged that the AAP government, just like the previous governments, had failed to recognise the efforts made by the assistant professors (guest faculty, who had been buttressing the higher education system by working in meager emoluments.

“While we were eligible for many more jobs offering us remunerative salaries, we chose to work as nation builders by working on arbitrary conditions laid by the government with an expectation to get regularised. Now, when most of us have become ineligible for applying for government jobs, the government is bent upon ruining our families by ceasing the ensuing system,” said Kaushik.

Speakers regretted that AAP leaders, including the CM, Vidhan Sabha Speaker and Education Minister, had forgotten the promises made to the assistant professors of the guest facility when then Chief Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, had tried to appoint 1,091 assistant professors and 67 librarians without adopting the standard procedure of recruitment.

Reiterating their earlier stand that they did not have any objection regarding the joining of 1,158 professors in pursuance of court orders in a normal manner, the protesting assistant professors demanded that their services should also be regularised.