Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Mar 19: In protest against the pay disparity, PU college lecturers all along the state have been attending to their duties, duly wearing black badges. The lecturers, deployed on examination duties currently, will continue with this form of protest till March 30, said Karnataka State PUC officers, principals, lecturers and non-teaching staff federation, in a release.

The lecturers say that the difference of salaries of PU college lecturers and degree college lecturers stood at about Rs 150 in 1996. The gap has widened manifold since, and degree college lecturers draw salary that is higher by nearly Rs 10000 than their counterparts in PU colleges, the federation says. It has been demanding for taking steps to revise salaries of the PU college lecturers in tune with the recommendations of the sixth pay commission.

The federation says that the lecturers have now undertaken this moderate form of protest by sporting black badges. It has added that if the response of the government continues to be lukewarm, the lecturers will wear white clothes to their faces during valuation work. It clarified that it had decided against boycotting of classes and examinations, taking into account welfare of the students and their parents. 

Federation’s treasurer, Chandre Gowda, and Mysore district secretary, Shive Gowda, have warned that with effect from the next academic year, the lecturers of PU colleges will boycott the classes, if their demands are not met by the government by then.