HC Stays Termination Order Against Ad Hoc Govt Lecturers In Odisha

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Thursday put an interim stay on the termination order of 123 ad hoc lecturers of government degree colleges in Odisha.

The court directive came during the hearing of a petition filed by the ad hoc lecturers.

On October 14, 2019, the Higher Education Department secretary had notified that the contracts of the ad hoc lecturers working over five years won’t be renewed once they expired on May 31, 2020. The termination notice was issued at a time when a meeting had already taken place in June 2018 to discuss their regularisation.

The department, which has issued a requisition to the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC)  for recruitment to 606 lecturer posts this year, has decided to disengage 123 ad hoc lecturers it had appointed in government degree colleges in 2014.

Challenging the notice, the ad hoc teachers had filed 27 petitions in the High Court.

Ad hoc Degree College Teachers’ Association said since the appointment was done in accordance with the UGC guidelines and career assessment from HSC to PhD, the state government can regularize their service and conduct recruitment to the remaining vacancies.