Part-timers' lot (December 9)
Leader writer: Jagjit T of the Imphal Free Press

The stir launched by the candidates recommended by the Manipur Public Service Commission for appointment as lecturers in government colleges has once again brought into focus the plight of the part-time lecturers employed in government colleges, as it seems inevitable that granting the demands of the one for induction into government service must be at the cost of the other. 

The lot of the 700 odd part-timers currently employed in government colleges, and their counterparts in the higher secondary schools, is indeed unenviable. For the past eight or nine months, they have been existing in a kind of limbo - working without benefit of service extension or the pittance they receive as their monthly remuneration, and with the present President's Rule administration in a downsizing mood, their fates are uncertain. Their initial appointment may have been intended as an interim, stopgap measure, but with successive governments consistently relying on the adhoc and part-time method of recruitment, sidestepping for years its own recruiting agency, they have taken on far greater responsibilities that originally envisaged. 

It is a fact that most colleges would be crippled if tomorrow these part-timers were removed without replacement. It is reported that there are colleges - and higher secondary schools - run almost entirely by part-timers. And, by all accounts, keeping aside for the moment the questionable manner of their entry into government service, they have in general proved to be as dedicated to their profession as their regular counterparts, in fact far more than might have been expected of them, given that all they receive, and not very regularly at that, as remuneration is a measly Rs. 2000 per month, which, in this day and age, is barely enough to keep body and soul together.

This is not to disparage the claims of the MPSC recommended candidate, simply to suggest that the lectureship candidates vs. part-timers equation is not just white vs. black. As matters stand now, to promote the interests of one at the expense of another would amount to gross injustice. It is no secret that the manner of entry into government service was highly irregular, and quite possibly on the understanding that they would be regularized automatically. There can also be no questioning the notion that the most highly qualified people should be appointed to posts, which after all have considerable social responsibility. Yet, the very service that they have rendered entitles the part-timers to some consideration. 

At this time, their outright termination, as much as their wholesale regularization, would be a perversion of justice. A middle path, which reconciles the interests of all concerned, would have to be found. A possible solution would perhaps to reserve some seats for them in future recruitments through the MPSC, or perhaps some weightage can be given to their experience. While there should be no compromise on the recruitment norms set by the UGC, it is true that the JRF/NET test is quite hard to pass. 

In this context, it is imperative that the state government should initiate regular State Level Eligibility Test at the earliest. The task before the government is not very enviable, but it is the nature of Manipuri polity that the sins of previous governments are often visited on succeeding ones. The present administration should not its responsibility to tackle the mess left by the folly and greed of those who held past governments, and find a solution that causes the least harm to all concerned, be it the part-timers, the lecturer nominees, or the student community. 

(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press)

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