No Regularisation or Honorarium Hike for Need-Based College Faculty, Govt Tells Assembly  | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has informed the Assembly that there is currently no proposal either to regularise or enhance the monthly honorarium of need-based Academic Arrangement faculty engaged in Government Degree Colleges, citing recent directions of the High Court that bar fresh academic arrangements against clear vacancies and mandate recruitment only through the Public Service Commission.

In a written reply tabled in the House, the Department of Higher Education said the engagement of Academic Arrangement faculty is carried out strictly as an interim, need-based measure to address teaching gaps arising from the non-availability of permanent staff. The appointments are made in accordance with notified guidelines and are linked to subject requirements and student strength in individual colleges.

The government stated that the system is intended primarily to ensure that academic work does not suffer and that students are not affected by faculty shortages. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to educated unemployed youth, including postgraduates and PhD holders, to gain classroom experience and develop teaching skills, serving as a stepping stone towards full-time academic careers.

However, the policy landscape has shifted following a judgment delivered by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar on August 30, 2025, in the case Syed Tariq Ahmad and others versus UT of JK and others. The court directed that no fresh academic arrangements be made against clear vacancies of Assistant Professors, Librarians and Physical Training Instructors covered under the Jammu and Kashmir Education Gazetted Colleges Service Recruitment Rules, 2008.

The court further ordered the government to immediately refer all such vacancies to the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission for regular selection and also asked that the desirability of creating additional sanctioned posts be examined to meet rising admissions. It ruled that any engagements made outside sanctioned strength should be discontinued from the next academic session, except in exigent circumstances, and that such appointments would remain purely contractual without any right to regularisation.

In light of these directions, the department told the Assembly that cases seeking regularisation of need-based academic staff had been pending before the High Court and have now been examined administratively. The matter was referred to the General Administration Department for constitution of a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The proposal, however, has been returned with certain observations and is currently under examination.

Similarly, a proposal regarding enhancement of remuneration for Academic Arrangement faculty had earlier been sent to the Finance Department for concurrence. That file was also returned with observations, and following the High Court’s ruling, the department clarified that no such proposal for increasing the monthly honorarium is under consideration at present.

Officials maintained that the engagements will continue only as stop-gap arrangements in the interest of students and subject to legal and policy constraints, while regular posts are to be filled through the prescribed recruitment process.

With the court mandating a shift towards permanent, commission-based appointments, the government signalled that future staffing in colleges will increasingly depend on formal recruitment rather than temporary academic arrangements.