IITians left fancy jobs to join govt mission, now left unemployed

As the contract period is completing in the next five days, over 1500 assistant professors gathered at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar area and staged a protest against the government on Thursday.

New Delhi:The contract of over 1,500 assistant professors who have been employed with the government's ambitious technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) for the last three years is likely to end on March 31, 2021, making the lives of the family members associated with the institution miserable even at the time of the pandemic.

As the contract period is completing in the next 5 days, over 1500 assistant professors gathered at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar area and staged a protest against the government on Thursday.

These assistant professors, who had once associated with various IITs and NITs, were told by the government to provide technical education in various existing institutions with a special focus on low-income states. They had joined the mission after quitting jobs of millions of dollar package.

According to a protestor, they were associated with various multinational companies after graduating from the Indian Institutes of Technology and the National Institutes of Technology. They have joined the government's ambitious programme after their professors proposed to them to contribute their learning for the upliftment of society.

"We have joined the mission for a noble cause. Now, we all are standing on the verge of unemployment and starvation due to the negligence of government policies", said a 32-year-old assistant professor who came here to join the movement in New Delhi.

With only five days left for the completion of the contract, the young professors are saying that they are feeling cheated as the government has promised to renew the contract or would retain it based on performance.

"We were told that the contract would be for four years, but, would be increased on the basis of performance. We were worked hard to achieve the government's goal and now they are not taking any heed of us", added a protestor.