Teachers threaten hunger strike

The Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (MFUCTO) on Monday threatened to go on a hunger strike if the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education refuses to meet their demands. The junior college teachers are demanding that they be given the same benefits under the University Grants Commission (UGC) as those teachers who have passed the National Eligibility Test (NET) and the State Eligibility Test (SET).

After a day-long protest by 600 teachers at Azad Maidan on Monday,a meeting took place between Minister of Higher and Technical Education Rajesh Tope,Principal Secretary J S Saharia and Avinash Shendre of the college teachers’ union. After the meeting,Shendre said,“The minister has assured us that he will write to the UGC regarding the regularisation of services of senior teachers who haven’t cleared the national/state eligibility test (NET/SET). He will also address the issue of implementation of pay commission benefits. We are awaiting our next meeting with the minister which is scheduled after April 23. If the talk fails,we will go on a hunger strike.”

Citing a letter by the UGC to the education ministry,Dr V N Pawar of Siddharth College said,“The UGC provision on the regulation of 1991 clearly states that in the absence of enough number of NET-qualified candidates,relaxations in the prescribed qualifications can be made. So it was unreasonable to demote non-NET/SET teachers recruited by the UGC between 1991 and 1999. It is evident in the state’s letter to the UGC dated August 24,2009,if relaxations are implemented,the teachers will claim higher pay scales which will add to the financial burden of the state.”