Patiala, September 13:- Contract Assistant Professors of Punjabi University Patiala have now appealed to the President of India for immediate intervention regarding their long-pending salary and service-related demands. In a representation submitted by the Punjabi University Contract Teachers Association to President Smt. Droupadi Murmu, the issue of alleged non-payment of due salary benefits despite the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been raised.
The most serious point mentioned in the representation is that if their legal and judicial rights are not implemented, they should be permitted to undertake mass self-immolation. The representation links this demand to the teachers’ long-standing frustration and wait for justice.

Contract Teachers Serving for 10 to 15 Years
According to President Dr. Tarnjit Kaur, these Contract Assistant Professors have been serving for a long time at the main campus, regional and neighbourhood campuses, and constituent colleges of Punjabi University.
The representation states that these teachers were recruited through advertisements at the national level and selected on the basis of qualification and merit through a duly approved legal Selection Committee by the Vice-Chancellor. According to the representation, these teachers fulfilled the qualifications prescribed by the UGC for Assistant Professors at the time of their appointment and have been serving at the university for 10 to 15 years or even longer.
The representation also states that some teachers have retired while serving on contract, while some have also died during their service.

The Biggest Question: When UGC Regulations Have Been Adopted, Why Is Salary Not Being Paid as per Clause 13.0?
General Secretary Raman Preet Singh has raised the most important question in the matter. According to him, Punjabi University Patiala has adopted UGC Regulations 2010 and UGC Regulations 2018. The representation also clearly states that under Clause 13.0, the total monthly salary of Contract Assistant Professors should not be less than the total monthly salary of a regular Assistant Professor.
Raman Preet Singh questioned that when the university has adopted these regulations and Clause 13.0 contains a clear provision regarding salary for Contract Assistant Professors, why are the long-serving contract teachers of Punjabi University not being paid salary on the same basis?
He said the main question is what is preventing the university from applying to contract teachers the rules that it has itself adopted. This is not a demand for any new rule, but a matter of implementing the rights due under the UGC rules that have already been adopted.
The representation also alleges that after adopting UGC Regulations 2018, Punjabi University started paying regular, ad hoc and guest faculty Assistant Professors salaries accordingly, while the contract faculty was deprived of this benefit.

Important Issue of Clause 10.0(f)(iii)
The representation also refers to Clause 10.0(f)(iii) of UGC Regulations 2018. According to this provision, if salary is not paid as per UGC rules during contract service, an issue arises regarding counting that period of service as experience. For this reason, the teachers say that on the one hand they are facing lower salaries, while on the other hand there is also a risk of their long service experience being affected.

Approached the High Court
Vice-President Dr. Raj Mahinder Kaur, drawing attention to the long legal struggle in the matter, said that when the issue was not resolved at the university level, the teachers had to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
According to the representation, the matter is related to CWP-21780-2022, namely the Rajan Goyal case. The representation states that after considering the merits of the matter, the High Court ruled in favour of the teachers and granted relief regarding arrears with interest from the date of appointment and salary for the future in accordance with UGC rules.

Allegation of Not Receiving Full Benefit Even After Withdrawal of LPA
Legal Advisor Dr. Surinder Singh said that according to the representation, after the High Court judgment, the university filed LPA-1882-2026, but the LPA was later withdrawn.
Thereafter, according to the representation, the Vice-Chancellor was approached for implementation of the High Court orders. The teachers have claimed that as they did not receive the expected relief, they had to resort to contempt proceedings under COCP-3349-2026 to secure their rights.
The representation states that the prolonged legal battle has seriously affected the teachers’ financial condition as well as their mental and professional status.

Several Teachers Have Reached the Final Stage of Their Service
The representation states that several teachers have reached the final stage of their service. Some members have retired, while some are struggling to secure their rights with very little service remaining.
Protest leader Dalbir Singh said that even after serving at the university for such a long period, if teachers have to repeatedly visit courts and offices for their legitimate rights, it is an extremely serious situation.

Most Serious Appeal to the President
The most serious and widely discussed aspect of the representation is that the application submitted to the President, while seeking immediate intervention, states that if the right to salary and arrears is not granted in accordance with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, permission should be given for mass self-immolation.
The representation links this demand to the teachers’ long-standing financial, mental and professional suffering. At the same time, the President has been requested to intervene immediately in the matter and ensure implementation of the High Court orders.

Copy Also Sent to the Prime Minister
Taking up the matter at the central level as well, a copy of the representation has also been sent to the Prime Minister, Government of India. Besides this, copies of the representation have been sent to the Governor-cum-Chancellor of Punjab, Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Education Minister, Chief Secretary, officials of the Higher Education Department, and the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and other concerned officials of Punjabi University.

Awaiting Response from University and Government
Contract teachers have been struggling for their rights for a long time under the leadership of President Dr. Tarnjit Kaur, General Secretary Raman Preet Singh, Vice-President Dr. Raj Mahinder Kaur and Legal Advisor Dr. Surinder Singh.
The main question now is that when Punjabi University has adopted UGC Regulations 2010 and 2018, Clause 13.0 contains a clear provision regarding the salary of Contract Assistant Professors, and the High Court judgment also records the matter of salary and arrears in accordance with UGC rules, why are these teachers still not being given their due rights?
This is the question now seeking an answer from the Punjabi University administration and the Punjab Government.
Copies of the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court related to CWP-21780-2022, LPA-1882-2026 and COCP-3349-2026 have also been attached with the representation.