Kohima, February 26 (MExN): Any category of employment, temporary/ad-hoc/contractual etc. or even stop-gap arrangements in administrative exigency, without general advertisement is called backdoor appointment. This definition was provided by the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) today while responding to the All Nagaland Government College Contract Teachers Union (ANGCCTU).
“According to the UGC rules, the appointments of contractual teachers should be made only when it is absolutely necessary like, to fill vacancies arising due to maternity leave, child care leave etc and when the student-teacher ratio does not satisfy the laid down norms,” the NNQF stated in a press release today.
Furthermore, “the appointments should not exceed 10% of the total number of faculty positions in a college/university. The qualification, selection procedure for appointment and salary should be the same as those applicable to a regularly appointed Assistant Professor. Such appointment should not be made initially for more than one academic session, and the performance of such entrant teacher should be reviewed for academic performance before reappointing on contract basis for another session,” the Forum listed out.
As responses to RTIs filed by the NNQF, “there are also sanctioned posts being occupied by unqualified contractual ‘Assistant Professors’ (Without NET/SLET/PHD).”
The NNQF also pointed out that the “RTI replies also clearly show that there are contractual employees who had been recruited against vacancies arising out of study leave. However, these contractual employees had continued to be in service even after the teachers on study leave reported back for duty. Some of these contractual employees also have gone on to become regularized.”
It made the Forum concerned with the mode of recruitment (appointment without advertisement) and “not the conditions of employment yet.”
However, it proposed, if the ANGCCTU is “unsatisfied with the exploitative conditions of their work and the meagre salaries, it would be a good idea to join the fight with NNQF for fairness in both the mode of recruitment and conditions of employment in the future.”
There are, the Forum informed, more than 100 sanctioned posts to be advertised which should be and will be open to all qualified candidates through the NPSC exam.
“We pray not just for a better, cleaner higher education system for our future generations but also better working conditions and environment for a profession as noble as teaching and educating,” the NNQF maintained while wondering why the ANGCCTU is countering the NNQF instead of fighting the authorities that exploit them, as claimed.
