Victor Das The ad hoc teachers in colleges and universities of Bihar have been fighting a long and fruitless battle for permanency of services.
THEY are a faceless lot: treated as limpets by the principals of their colleges; as bonded labourers by the heads of their departments; as step-brothers or stepsisters by their permanent colleagues; and affronted time and again by the office bearers of their colleges for enquiring about their remunerations. They are the ad hoc teachers of the several universities of Bihar Yet they are working, despite the endless ordeal, with the fond hope that one fine morning they will be permanently absorbed by the universities. But that has not happened till today in spite of a directive by the highest court of the country! Peculiar, indeed, is this country, as Alexander exclaimed to his commanderin- chief after invading India. While an unskilled labourer is 'supposed to get' Rs 20.50 per day as minimum wages set by our government, a Master's degree holder gets a paltry sum of Rs 20.00 per day as a full-time lecturer. If you ask for justice, the government will look at you with bewilderment as if there is no such word in their dictionary:
