Decade Of Uncertainty: The Struggle For Job Security Among Contractual Workers At Kashmir University And Other Autonomous Institutions In Valley 

Despite years of service and repeated promises of regularisation, need-based and casual workers at Kashmir University and other autonomous institutions continue to face job insecurity, low wages and lack of benefits, with systemic inefficiencies and slow governmental action prolonging their hardships.

The situation of need-based, contract, and casual workers at Kashmir University and other autonomous institutions in the Kashmir division has been unclear for almost ten years. Hundreds of people’s livelihoods have been affected by this problem, which has also revealed more widespread systemic inefficiencies in these institutions. Many workers still endure insecure job conditions despite repeated pledges and calls for regularisation, which causes emotional and financial instability.

Historical background

The number of need-based, contract, and casual workers at Kashmir University and other independent organizations, including colleges, research centres, and government-funded initiatives, has significantly increased since 2014. At first, this was thought to be a short-term fix to deal with the growing need for employees and to cover any gaps brought about by financial and regulatory restrictions. But what started as a temporary solution progressively turned into an ongoing issue. Workers hired under different employment schemes were caught in a never-ending cycle of uncertainty, with regularisation pledges being made but rarely kept.

This problem is not limited to the University of Kashmir. To create a parallel workforce without the security or benefits normally provided to permanent employees, other independent institutions throughout the region have also turned to temporary employment. For individuals impacted, years of job insecurity, stagnating pay, and limited access to benefits have resulted from the delay of regularisation.

The effect on employees

The effect that this irregularization has had on the employees themselves has been among its most noticeable effects. Most contract and need-based workers provide necessary services like research support, teaching, administrative work, and technical support. Despite being essential to these organizations’ daily operations, they continue to operate on the periphery of the formal workforce.

The absence of job security and the authorities’ unwillingness to start a regularisation procedure have been the workers’ constant complaints. For a large number of these workers, irregularisation has led to:

Job Insecurity: Workers frequently have contracts that allow for abrupt termination, which causes them to worry about their job security.

Low Pay: Despite carrying out the same or comparable tasks, need-based and temporary workers frequently receive far lesser pay than their permanent colleagues.

Lack of Advantages: Benefits like provident fund contributions, health insurance, and retirement plans are not available to them because they are not regular employees.

Stagnation in the Career: Employees are locked in the same role for years with limited prospects for professional progress and minimal chance of regularisation or advancement.

Institutional and legal barriers

Legal and administrative obstacles have continuously slowed efforts to regularise these workers’ services. The absence of explicit rules guiding the regularisation of need-based and casual workers in educational institutions is one of the main reasons for the delay.

Institutions have frequently claimed that their budgets do not permit the permanent employment of these staff members, while others have cited the absence of state regulations offering a regularisation framework.

Although advocacy organizations and workers’ unions have attempted certain legal interventions, the process has been sluggish. Over the years, there have been several petitions and demonstrations urging the institutions and government to clarify the matter, but to little avail. The situation is made more difficult by the lack of a single policy on the subject, which leaves each institution to handle it on its own, frequently producing uneven results throughout the region.

Promises from the government and slow action

Over the years, the government has pledged to address these workers’ concerns on several occasions, but practical measures have been less forthcoming. The establishment of committees to investigate the problem and suggest remedies has been declared by the authorities on several occasions, but the suggestions have not yet been put into action.

Since objectives frequently change as a result of changes in governance, the region’s periodic political instability has also contributed to the delay. Every administration makes new promises, but employees are left in a state of uncertainty in the absence of a clear policy or an open regularisation procedure.

Current events

More workers and advocacy organizations have brought attention to the regularisation issue in recent months, emphasizing how urgent it is. The situation of need-based and contractual workers has gained more attention in the public sphere as a result of the introduction of online campaigns and increased media coverage. This has caused some academic officials and politicians to re-examine the matter.

Furthermore, there may be a bright side to the adoption of national educational reform programs and policies, since the need for a more steady and permanent workforce at colleges and universities is frequently brought up in conversations about raising the standard of education in Kashmir.

The importance of a coordinated strategy

The complicated problem of erratic service delivery at Kashmir University and other independent institutions necessitates a prompt and decisive response. Despite being vital to the operation of research and educational institutions, these workers are still subjected to working conditions that deprive them of the respect and stability that come with long-term employment.

There is increasing agreement that to permanently address this issue, a single policy should be backed by the LG administration, and a higher education authority is required. In addition to giving hundreds of workers stability, regularising the services of need-based, contract, and casual workers would guarantee the seamless operation of the organizations that depend on them. Moving from promises to tangible action and making sure that these workers receive the status and security they are due are now the challenges before the incoming government.

The writer is a media researcher

By Shabir Ahmad Dar

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