HC stays order making NET must for lecturer posts

CHENNAI: A single judge order upholding the UGC's decision to withdraw the exemption given to those who had completed MPhil before 1993 from clearing the National Eligibility Test (NET) or State-Level Eligibility Test (SLET) for appointment as lecturers has been stayed by a division bench of the Madras high court.

The bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice KK Sasidharan stayed the order on an appeal filed by three guest lecturers working in government colleges on contract basis, without the NET/SLET qualification.

It all started with a UGC notification dated July 11, 2009, noting that henceforth NET/SLET qualification would be the minimum eligibility for all lecturer-aspirants, including those who had completed their MPhil before December 31, 1993. That is, the notification effectively dispensed with the exemption that had been extended to those who had completed their MPhil degree before the cut-off date, from clearing the NET/SLET. The state government issued a consequent order on March 29.

Challenging the notification and the consequent GO, a batch of writ petitions were filed in the high court. Last month, a single judge upheld the validity of the notificiation and the GO.

Assailing the order, the present writ appeal has been filed by the guest lecturers, who contended that guest lecturers possessing pre-1993 MPhil degree were working in various colleges for a period ranging from seven years to 13 years. They said the state government must either come out with a regularisation scheme as a one-time measure or give reasonable time' for such candidates to equip themselves and clear the NET/SLET examination. Till such time, they should be allowed to continue in their services, they said. Source>>