Srinagar, June 19: The lectures working as academic arrangements in degree colleges across the Valley have decided to go on indefinite strike and boycott classes from June 27 if the Government failed to fulfill their “long-pending genuine” demands.
 According to a member of J&K College Contractual Teachers Association, the strike would be observed against the Government’s decision to drop out the contractual lecturers who completed seven years of their service, from being regularized. “The Government changed the nomenclature from contractual lecturers to teaching assistants, which was now being made an alibi for denying the regularization.”
 “We also demand the revision of our monthly remuneration as per the previous pay revision. “There has to be some policy in place for us. It can’t go like this. This is sheer exploitation,” he said.
 He said the lecturers were overburdened due to the revised workload recently issued by the Government. “As per the University Grants Commission norms, we have to give only four classes per day, but in most of the cases we have to attend at least six classes,” he said.
 He said the lecturers, as a mark of protest, would be wearing black arm bands at work from Monday. “We had given a week’s time to government to fulfill the demands, but it failed to take any substantial decision,” he added.
 “Initially we will wear black arm bands in colleges as a mark of protest. But if government fails to address our issues, we will boycott class work, examination duty or any other job associated with any college committee from June 27,” he said.
 He threatened that the teachers would also go for hunger strike till death if the demands were not fulfilled immediately. “We have been running from pillar to post, but the senior functionaries of the government have show indifferent attitude towards our grievances,” the member said.
 The Association member said the lecturers would also meet the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah and Speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone and would present their memorandum of demands to them.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST