Guest lecturers in Tamil Nadu to move Supreme Court for permanent jobs, salary

CHENNAI: The guest lecturers in Tamil Nadu have decided to move the Supreme Court against the State Higher Education Department for failing to implement the Madras High Court’s verdict on permanent appointments.

V Thangaraj, state president, All Tamil Nadu Government Colleges UGC-Qualified Honorary Lecturers’ Association, claimed that 1,146 honorary lecturers who took part in the certificate verification process in February 2021 after a GO was passed, have not been appointed permanently till now contrary to the court directive.

“At present, there are around 7,800 honorary lecturers, who are working on a consolidated pay basis in 171 arts, science, and education colleges in TN,” he said. “We’ll also urge the apex court to not only make jobs permanent to 1,146 guest lecturers, but also demand that the remaining honorary teachers also get paid remuneration as per the latest UGC norms of minimum pay of Rs 50,000 per month.”

Guest lecturers in TN receive the lowest monthly remuneration Rs 25,000 in the country. “In Kerala, it’s Rs 50,000, Puducherry pays Rs 40,000, and in Haryana, based on ‘equal pay for equal work’, it’s Rs 57,700. And, it’s around Rs 50,000 in Punjab and New Delhi respectively,” explained.

Quoting the recent HC order released in October 2025, Thangaraj opined that though unemployed teachers were engaged under the label as ‘guest lecturers’, “in reality they are being used like regular lectures. “The court had stated that lecturers with good academic credit and doctorate degrees are being engaged for a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 in the name of consolidated pay”.