கேரளா அரசு கௌரவ விரிவுரையாளர்களுக்கு சம்பளத்தை உயர்த்தி தர சம்மதம்

It has been decided to double the salary of guest lecturers in government and aided colleges. As Finance Minister Dr. Thomas Isaac has signed the order, it is likely to be issued soon. The salary hike will come into retrospective effect from 2017 March.

The demand for wage hike of guest lecturers has been raised for many years. The decision in this regard was delayed considering the huge financial crisis. As per the present increase, there is not much disparity between the salary of the UGC qualified permanent lecturers and that of guest lecturers.

The government expects that the salary increase of the guest lecturers will be helpful to better the quality of higher education. Till now, the wage of guest lecturers was fixed on the basis of the number of hours they taught which was changed to the number of days. According to the UGC criteria, they have to teach at least 3 hours a day.

UGC NET or JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) qualified lecturers will get Rs 1750 per day and maximum Rs 43,750 for 25 working days in a month. This was Rs 500 per day and maximum Rs 25,000 a month. Those without UGC qualifications will get Rs 1600 and maximum Rs 40,000 per month. This was previously Rs 300 per hour and maximum Rs 20,000 a month.

No accurate statistics of the guest lecturers teaching in the government and aided colleges are available presently. It is assumed that there are about 10,000 guest lecturers in the state. Majority of them are working in very low salary and are struggling with hectic work load too. They also initiate the extra-curricular activities in addition to teaching in the colleges.