Daily wage labourers and consolidated pay casual workers of Madurai Kamaraj University are concerned about a recent development in the Higher Education Department which has ordered for the redeployment of 1,300 excess staff of the Annamalai University to other institutions in the State.
Citing an announcement of the Higher Education Department to redeploy 1,500 excess staff of the 3,500 total employees in the Annamalai University to other higher educational institutions, N. Savariguru, Secretary, Madurai Kamaraj University Consolidated Pay Workers Welfare Association, said that they feared that 171 daily wage workers and 201 consolidated pay workers, who were temporary staff, would be replaced by them.
As the workers would include non-teaching staff and conservancy workers, no employment was carried out after 2015, he added.
鈥淭he employment was based on the timely requirement of the heads of various departments in the university. As they did not have a proper recruitment mechanism, all the workers with more than 15 years鈥 experience were recruited directly by the department,鈥 Mr. Savariguru stated.
Though they did not have any pressure or fear of losing their job until an unprecedented order to sack 136 contract workers in 2021 during the severe fund crunch in the university, after that they became sceptical about their job security in the university, he observed.
He added that they even approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court to make their jobs permanent. 鈥淲e also got the order in favour of us,鈥 he noted.
But the recent developments pertaining to the economic constraints and fighting to receive any funds from the State government, have kept their roles precarious and uncertain, he said.
鈥淲e fear the Annamalai University permanent workers who are to be redeployed to other higher education institutions would replace our temporary roles in the university,鈥 Mr. Savariguru added.
As they had served the university for more than a decade and having their whole family dependent on their jobs, he said they should be made permanent staff to protect themselves from such situations.