PU lecturers at it again, warn stir if pay isn't hiked

Pre-university lecturers across the State are on a protest yet again, demanding that the State government meet their long-pending demands. The lecturers have threatened to boycott II PUC exam evaluation if their demands are not met by then.

Last year too, the lecturers had gone on protest ahead of the evaluation.

On Wednesday, the lecturers gathered at Freedom Park in the city, urging the government to grant them pay revision. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Thimmaiah Purle, president, Karnataka State PU College Lecturers Association said the government had failed to implement the recommendations of the Kumar Naik Committee report, which recommends a hike in salary for the lecturers.

“The committee recommends a hike in our basic pay from the existing Rs 22,800 to Rs 25,300. Lecturers are always accused of going on protest ahead of the exam valuation.
However, in spite of our repeated pleas, the government has failed to implement the committee recommendations. This time, we have started out protest early,” he added.

The lecturers would go on protest in four stages. On January 8, they submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, which was followed by the protest at Freedom Park on Wednesday. If the government failed to meet their demand, they would wear black bands in protest during the I and II PU exams. Following this, they would boycott the evaluation work, members of the association said. There are more than 21,000 lecturers and 6,500 principals across the State.