Ranchi, Jan. 8: The Jharkhand government has decided to appoint guest faculties from private institutions to tide over the shortage of teachers in colleges and universities of the state.

The government has also decided to implement the revised University Grants Commission pay package to teachers of the newly-constituent colleges with effect from January 1, 1996. Nearly 400 teachers would benefit from the move. Barring teachers of the new constituent colleges, others of the three state universities are already getting the revised pay-scale.

Higher education director K.K. Shrivastava today sent a circular to the vice-chancellors of all the state universities to hire guest faculties to overcome the shortage of teachers in colleges and the postgraduate departments.

Vice-chancellors of Ranchi University, Vinoba Bhave University and Sidho Kanhu University have been directed to hire retired teachers or serving teachers of private institutions against vacancies of sanctioned posts.

The teachers are to be paid at the rate of Rs 100 per lecture subject to a maximum of Rs 3,000 per month.

Shrivastava told The Telegraph that the vice-chancellors have been directed to hire contractual teachers to streamline the academic session hamstrung by the shortage of teachers in many colleges and post-graduate departments. Serving teachers of constituent colleges or university departments can also be hired provided they hold classes during free-periods and not at the cost of their assigned jobs, he said. The contractual teachers will be hired till the Jharkhand Public Service Commission appoints regular teachers, Shrivastava said.

Teachers were last appointed in unified Bihar in 1996 and since then many teachers have retired while some new posts have been created, he said.

JPSC has been authorised to appoint teachers by a recent Act promulgated by the Jharkhand Assembly.

In unified Bihar, the responsibility was shouldered by the Bihar College Service Commission and the Bihar Universities Commission.

In Jharkhand, the state government has decided that the JPSC would be the lone appointing agency for all government departments and universities.

Shrivastava said the government has also decided in principle to implement the revised UGC pay package to teachers of the newly-constituent colleges.

“Nearly 400 teachers from 12 constituent colleges would benefit from the move. However, the revision would be effected after fresh pay-fixation as in the case of other teachers,’’ he said.

The colleges were taken over by the government in the fourth phase in 1986.

The revision would be effective from January 1, 1996, but the government has not made his arrear policy clear. The state government may adopt the same policy that was used for others in clearing the arrear since Jharkhand came into being and waiting for the division of assets and liabilities to clear the dues of unified Bihar days, sources said.

The newly-affiliated colleges of Ranchi University are PPK College, Bundu, Mandar College, Mandar, ABM College, Jamshedpur, B.N. Jalan College, Sisai, KC College, Bero and SSJ College, Garhwa.

The colleges under Vinoba Bhave University are Chas College, Chas, Markham College, Hazaribagh, R.K.Mahila College, Giridih and Rajdhanwar College, Giridih. There are two constituent colleges under Sidhu Kanhu University — Barharhwa College, Sahebganj and Millat College, Parsa.