Madurai: Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC), a coalition of four major teaching and non-teaching college staff associations in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday staged a protest highlighting various demands, including the repeal of the government order (GO) 137 recently issues by Higher Education Department.
The GO, which mandates prior approval from the government mandatory for Principals and teachers of government and aided colleges to contest elections of academic bodies like Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council of universities.
Terming the G.O. as grossly undemocratic and aimed at strangulating diverse voices from being heard in the academic bodies, JAC said that they would intensify their protest, if the order was not repealed immediately.
S. Kalyanaraman, secretary of Zone-2 of Madurai Kamaraj, Manonmaniam Sundaranar, Mother Teresa and Alagappa University Teachers’ Association (MUTA), said, “There is no Senate and Syndicate in Mother Teresa Women’s University and Alagappa University. While associations are fighting for long to get these bodies in the two universities to make them democratic, the government is trying to make all other universities undemocratic,” he said.
Other demands of the protesters included hiking the pay of guest lecturers in Madurai Kamaraj University constituent colleges to Rs. 15,000 as per government norms and the rollback of new Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
“The committee set up by government to analyze the possibility of bringing back the old pension scheme has sought extension for submitting their report. We urge them to immediately submit the report in favour of old pension scheme,” Mr. Kalyanaraman said.