‘Issue of guest lecturers in Karnataka can be resolved if UGC revises qualification rules’

Karnataka’s Higher Education Minister M.C. Sudhakar has said that the issue of non-UGC qualified guest lecturers can be resolved if the Union Government changes the guidelines to recruit lecturers for degree colleges.

Participating in the debate on guest lecturers losing their jobs in degree colleges as per High Court’s ruling, Mr. Sudhakar, on December 11, told the Legislative Council that he held several meetings with the objective of resolving the issue. The government of Karnataka would also file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court as an effort to safeguard the interests of the guest lecturers who lost their jobs, he said.

The Minister said that the issue could be resolved if the UGC guidelines were revised. He appealed to members of the BJP to appraise Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan about this issue.

Several members, including Prakash Hukkeri, N. Ravi Kumar, C.T. Ravi, and S.L. Bhoje Gowda, suggested that the government accommodate the lecturers in other departments, wherever possible, on humanitarian grounds, as many of them could not apply afresh for jobs.