Demanding a salary increase, the guest faculty of govt. PU colleges and schools to launch ‘Belagavi Chalo’ protest on December 17 and 18

Visitor centers operating in PU government colleges, government primary schools and high schools will hold a ‘Belagavi Chalo’ protest on December 17 and 18 demanding a hike of Rs 30,000 in monthly salary, job security, and other benefits.

Visiting lecturers of PU colleges have decided to boycott classes and hold protest rallies in Belagavi, where the legislative session is going on, on December 17 under the Association of Visiting Lecturers of Government Pre-University Colleges. On December 18, guest teachers of primary and secondary schools will hold a protest under the Karnataka State Government Primary and High School Guest Teachers’ Association.

Number of guest teachers

There are about 48,000 government primary and secondary schools across the State and against teacher vacancies, about 43,000 guest teachers have been recruited for the academic year 2024-25. A monthly allowance of ₹10,000 is given to primary school visiting teachers and ₹10,500 to secondary school visiting teachers.

There are 1,232 government PU colleges across the State, and 4,689 lecturers are working here. They are given a monthly salary of R12,000.

“According to government regulations, all guest lecturers are MA-B.Ed, MSc-B.Ed, or M.Com-B.Ed graduates and they only get R12,000 per month as salary. Due to the shortage of teachers, they teach up to 20 hours a week, exceeding government regulations. The government should immediately increase the salary of guest lecturers in PU colleges to Rs 30,000 per month,” demanded Rajesh Bhat, state secretary, Association of Government Pre-University Guest Lecturers.

Earlier, during the BJP government, guest lecturers working in Government First Grade Colleges went on strike for a long time demanding a salary hike. In 2022, the State government increased their salary to between R26,000 and R32,000 per month.

At the same time, it ordered an increase in the salary of visiting teachers in public primary schools from R7,500 to R10,000, the salary of visiting teachers in secondary schools from R8,000 to R10,500, and the salaries of visiting teachers in colleges in PU from R9,000 to R. ₹12,000 per month.

However, in December 2023, guest lecturers of Government First Grade Colleges went on another indefinite strike demanding salary increases and the fulfillment of other demands. At this time, the government decided to increase the salary by R5,000. But, the protesters did not agree with this and continued the protest.

Then on January 7, 2024, the government announced an increase in salary from R5,000 to R8,000 for visiting lecturers of graduate colleges based on experience and a sum of R5 lakh as retirement benefit, and other benefits.

Ignored section

However, despite many requests in the last one year, the need to increase the salaries of guest lecturers in PU colleges and guest teachers in primary and secondary schools in the State has been ignored.

“According to the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, the government is paying a salary of ₹ 10,000 and ₹ 10,500 to guest teachers of primary and secondary schools. However, all State government employees are now paid as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission,” said Chitralekha, State president, Karnataka State Government School Teachers’ Association and High School Guest Teachers’ Association.

“There is no difference between guest lecturers of first grade government colleges and guest lecturers of PU colleges, except for Ph.D qualification or NET or KSET. However, the government has ignored us by giving the guest lecturers of the first grade government colleges a salary hike and other benefits. The lecturers of PU government colleges should also be given retirement benefits, life insurance and other benefits and salary hike,” said Mr Bhatt.