Whose interest does the Meghalaya’s People College as college fees remained unregularized

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 1, 2023

The People’s College Grant in Aids scheme initiated by the MDA Govt does not serve the interest of the students’ community as there is no direction for regulation of college fees at par with the Government College as the teachers’ salaries will be borne by the Government.

This came to light in the notification issued by the Meghalaya Education Department to the various colleges covered under the People’s College scheme and the two pages notification did not have any mention for regularization of fees.

The notification directed the college to promote quality higher education for the benefit of socially and economically marginalized sections of society (including individuals with disabilities) and to undertake necessary steps to facilitate increased access to quality higher education.

The Government of Meghalaya shall be the funding agency for payment of salary portion (including allowances) for the sanctioned posts of teachers and Non-Teaching staff of the college only.

Governing Body of the college shall be the employer of all the employees recruited to the Government sanctioned posts and all academic, administrative and managerial responsibilities shall exclusively be vested with the Governing Body.

All appointments, terminations etc. shall be as per Govt. rules and with prior approval of the Govt.

Remaining vacancies if any are to be filled up through open advertisements by following Government prescribed rules and in compliance to qualification norms as specified and all subsequent amendments of the qualification norms that might be notified from time to time.

The notification prescribed the qualification of lecturers, principal and other staff to be appointed under People’s College Scheme.

A minimum of 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point-scale, wherever the grading system is followed) at the Master’s level shall be the essential qualification for direct recruitment of teachers and other equivalent cadres at any level. However, preference shall be given to NET/Ph.D. qualified candidates.

A relaxation of 5% shall be allowed at the Bachelor’s as well as at the Master’s level for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Classes (OBC) (Non-creamy Layer)/ Differently abled for the purpose of eligibility and assessing good academic record for direct recruitment.

The eligibility marks of 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever the grading system is followed) and the relaxation of 5% to the categories mentioned above are permissible, based only on the qualifying marks without including any grace mark procedure.

For Deputy Library the minimum qualification shall be M. Lib at least 50% marks.

All employees recruited to the newly created posts shall come under the NPS (New Pension Scheme) immediately.

The Governing Body (GB) of the College shall be solely responsible for implementation of New Pension Scheme.

The creation of posts shall be subject to maintaining a pass percentage of students not less than 50% in each semester failing which detailed justification shall be submitted to the Government by the College authorities.

The Governing Body of the college shall submit the detailed report on the pass percentage once at the end of each semester.

Accounts of the college inclusive of fees collected and grant received from Government shall be audited and yearly audit report shall be submitted by the college authorities to the Government.

No employee of the college holding a Government sanctioned post shall participate in any kind of political activity.

Accounts of the College shall also be subjected to scrutiny by the Directorate of Local Audits.

No employee of the college holding a Government sanctioned post shall take up any other appointment/assignment part time or otherwise.

The age of superannuation in respect of Principal and teachers holding sanctioned posts shall be 60 years. For Non-teaching employees the age of superannuation shall be as per State Government rules.

The Governing Body of the College shall submit an acceptance letter before the Notification takes effect.

The Governing Body of the College shall follow the decision of the State Government in matters relating to People’s College as notified from time to time.