Recently, the Supreme Court has cancelled the recruitment of 1158 assistant professors and librarians. In 2020-21, the youth of Punjab raised the crisis of higher education in Punjab by forming a “Government College Bachao Manch”, as a result of which the government had to issue an advertisement for the recruitment of 1091 assistant professors and 67 librarians. The recruitment was released but was not completed. The candidates selected to complete the recruitment issued by the Congress government fought against two governments. A long struggle lasted for more than three years in the form of dharnas, demonstrations, rallies, Pakke Morchas, etc., on the strength of which a large number were appointed in colleges. Due to the struggle, the recruitment of 1091 assistant professors and 67 librarians had reached the final stage of completion.
With the recruitment after about 25-26 years, there was hope of changing the higher education of Punjab in a better direction and the thoughts of filling the vacant colleges without professors had sprouted, but the Supreme Court’s decision changed everything in a matter of minutes and innocent youth had to bear the cost of the incompetence and shortcomings of the Punjab government in the recruitment process. The Supreme Court’s decision has created a livelihood crisis for 1158 youth and their families, and has re-emerged the Punjab government’s anti-higher education policy and the crisis of higher education. Every year the government collects several lakhs of crores of rupees from the people in the form of taxes, the purpose of which is to provide basic facilities to the people. Free, uniform, compulsory and scientific education is the fundamental right of every citizen and it is the duty of the government to provide it to every citizen without any discrimination, but in India, under the policies of liberalization, privatization and globalization that started in 1991, education has been made a business.
Private educational institutions that were open for profit were allowed to flourish, and by reducing the grants of government institutions, they were pushed towards elimination. Today, all political parties, unions and all state governments are running on these policies. At the national level, the government is running away from education, health and other basic facilities, but the situation in Punjab is even more terrible. Higher education in Punjab is under a terrible crisis, and this crisis is not only due to a lack of recruitment but is much bigger and more widespread. Universities, colleges, polytechnic colleges, medical colleges, ITIs, etc. of Punjab are suffering from government neglect, and private education shops are being given a free hand. It is the government’s compulsion to keep as many teachers as were removed on the orders of the court till new recruitment, the removed permanent teachers have been converted into guest faculty,?? For the provision of high-quality education or to offer higher education to the youth in a smooth manner, according to the All India Model on Higher Education and other scholars’ committees, there should be 25 to 30 colleges per lakh population of 18 to 23 years. According to a rough estimate, the population of 18 to 23-year-olds in Punjab is between 27 to 33 lakhs, for which 700 to 1000 colleges are
This performance of private colleges can be understood more clearly through the data on the financial burden on students. According to DPI data, the cost of BA in government colleges ranges from Rs 3000 to Rs 14200 but in private colleges the same cost goes from Rs 12040 to Rs 56000. The cost of doing MA in government colleges ranges from Rs 5500 to Rs 14000 but in private colleges there is no MA below Rs 25000. In private colleges there is no M.Com below Rs 33000. This is only a comparison of course fees in which accommodation, transportation, books and other expenses are not added. The difference in costs between technical and medical courses is higher which goes up to 3 to 10 times compared to government institutions. The result is that the decline in the number and deteriorating condition of government colleges (most of them are located near urban areas) and the growth of private mafia in the field of education are interrelated phenomena and are pushing the sons and daughters of the poor workers out of higher education.
According to a recent report, the average monthly income of 90 percent of Indian families is less than Rs. 10,000. For 90 percent of families, the fees of government colleges are unaffordable and a child of an ordinary working family cannot dream of becoming a doctor or engineer without paying the expensive fees of private shops. Through the commercialization of education, the government is discriminating and issuing this order that the economically weaker citizens have no right to get education and that education is the exclusive right of only those who can afford it. Therefore, the first demand is to increase the number of government institutions, make education cheap/free and close down private education shops so that children of poor and working families can also be provided with more opportunities to study and write. There is a huge shortage of colleges in Punjab, which no government is serious about fulfilling. The next thing is that the condition of the colleges that exist is also very pitiful. Decades old buildings, lack of drinking water, lack of bathrooms, dilapidated condition of classrooms, absence of scientific laboratories or lack of equipment in them, absence of computer labs, etc. are quite common problems. The maintenance and upkeep of colleges is also causing a clear shortage of non-teaching posts. Due to the shortage of rooms, students have been seen studying sitting on the floor in a government college in Punjab.
There are 2353 sanctioned posts in 64 government colleges of Punjab, out of which only about 250 posts are filled by permanent professors. If we look at this, 2103 posts (89. percent) are lying vacant on which no permanent recruitment has been made since 1996. There are 67 posts of librarians in 64 colleges, almost all of which are lying vacant. According to a rough estimate, 85 to 90 percent of non-teaching posts like clerk, gardener, sanitation worker etc. are lying vacant. As of November 2020, 84 percent of the sanctioned posts in five government colleges of Ludhiana were vacant and there is no sanctioned post in Government College (East) Ludhiana. According to 2013 data, out of 3566 sanctioned posts in 136 semi-government colleges of Punjab, 1925 posts (54 percent) are lying vacant. According to the data of the year 2021, 143790 students were studying in government colleges of Punjab and an average of 2247 students are studying per college. Student-teacher ratio is an important parameter for good management of higher education and according to UGC, this ratio is 20:1 for undergraduate courses, 15:1 for postgraduates and 10:1 for professional courses. If we consider 80 percent of the 143790 students as undergraduates and 20 percent as postgraduates, then UGC According to the suggestions of the 25:1 and 15:1 student-teacher ratio, respectively, 6518 posts should be available to teach these students, which is an average of 102 per college.
If this ratio is increased to 30:1, then 4793 posts are required. This number is almost double the number of posts currently sanctioned. Along with this, the development of science and technology has also created new subjects for study like Maths, etc., due to which hundreds of more posts can be created. By making permanent recruitments, employment will also be provided to the youth of Punjab and the conditions of higher education will also improve, but increasing the posts is a big deal, the government is not even serious about filling the sanctioned ones. Instead of filling these posts, the government is using guest faculty, part-time and HEIS. (who get salary from self-financed course fees) etc. are being exploited by the government. All these professors are being looted by the government. The government started recruiting guest faculty teachers in 2001, which was done through college principals. Around 900 guest faculty professors are teaching in government colleges of Punjab, in which there are four salary slabs. The salaries have been fixed at Rs. 33000 for up to 5 years of experience, Rs. 38000 for 10 years of experience, Rs. 43000 for 15 years and Rs. 47000 for more than 15 years of experience. A part of their salary comes from the government and a part comes from the college income. The source of income of colleges is collection from students on the pretext of different types of funds like PTA etc
The government made these recruitments an alternative to permanent recruitment because the salary expenses for the government were also less and there was also freedom from allowances etc. to be paid after becoming permanent, but on the other hand, this resulted in a huge exploitation of these teachers in the form of a very small salary for the same work and an additional burden on the students in the form of fees. There was also freedom from allowances etc. for contractual teachers, but on the other hand, this resulted in a huge exploitation of these teachers in the form of a very small salary for the same work and an additional burden on the students. Another type is that of teachers coming under the Higher Education Institutions Society, whose entire salary is paid from the fees collected through self-financed courses. Due to vacancies in government colleges, there has been a sharp increase in these courses in the last few years. The fees of these courses are 2 to 5 times or even more than other courses. M.Ed. in Punjabi University .
The fee for self-financed is Rs 1 lakh and the fee for the same course in the State College of Education is Rs 20 thousand. Both are government institutions, but the students are suffering the loss of the difference in fees between the two in the form of paying hefty fees. The result of privatization and contracting is coming out in the form of hefty fees from the students and in the form of terrible looting of the teachers. There is a picture of government colleges in which “government rules are applicable”. Steps can be taken to change this whole picture by making permanent recruitments. Along with this, the issue of abolishing the contracting system in colleges should also be raised and guest faculty teachers who fulfill the necessary conditions should also be made permanent who have taught in these colleges for a major part of their lives. All self-financed courses should be closed and the courses should be governmentized. The same is the case with non-teaching posts in government colleges. There is a need to fill non-teaching posts for the upkeep and maintenance of colleges so that these college buildings can be prevented from falling into disrepair. This is the ground reality of the Bhagwant Mann government’s claims of “education revolution”.
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