Srinagar, Oct 26, KDC: Former Supreme Court judge and ex-Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju, has strongly criticized the Jammu and Kashmir government for what he called a “flagrant violation” of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution by failing to provide equal pay to contractual college teachers.
In a detailed Facebook post, Justice Katju, as per Kashmir Dot Com, said that Ph.D. holders working as contractual teachers in government colleges across J&K have been facing severe injustice for years. Despite being among the most educated youth in the Union Territory, they are paid only ₹28,000 per month, far below the University Grants Commission (UGC) norm of ₹57,700 prescribed for contractual or ad hoc faculty.
“These highly qualified teachers are suffering in two ways — they are underpaid and their teaching experience is not recognized for future employment since it doesn’t meet UGC pay criteria,” Katju wrote.
He noted that the UGC guidelines for contractual salaries are being implemented across the rest of India, including by the Government of Ladakh, which recently fixed the basic salary for contractual teachers at ₹57,700. “The J&K government’s failure to do so is a blatant breach of the constitutional principle of equality — ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ — under Article 14,” he said.
Justice Katju expressed disappointment that the issue has not received sufficient attention from the media and urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to immediately address the matter. “As a Kashmiri, I feel deeply when injustice is done to Kashmiris, whether Muslim or Hindu. These contractual teachers deserve justice,” he added.
He appealed to the public to raise their voices in support of the teachers and to deliver copies of his appeal to the Chief Minister and other authorities concerned. (KDC)
