Most govt, govt-aided degree colleges in UP have no librarians

PRAYAGRAJ : For around a decade now, no new librarian has been recruited in any government and government-aided degree and post graduate colleges of Uttar Pradesh. As a result, more than 300 posts are lying vacant in these colleges and where the responsibilities are being shouldered by either teachers or clerks, say officials of these institutions. The worst hit among them are 321 government-aided degree colleges of the state in which more than 200 posts of librarian are lying vacant, they claim.

“Earlier managers of the colleges concerned used to recruit librarians at their level. On the orders of the Supreme Court, the librarians are being given the pay scale prescribed by the University

Grants Commission (UGC) from January 1, 1986, and the college managements cannot make appointments to the posts getting the pay scale of UGC. Therefore, on May 13, 2009, the state government banned the appointment of librarians in these colleges at the level of the managers,” said principal of a government-aided degree college. After that in a state cabinet meeting held in November 2012, the responsibility of appointment of librarians in government-aided degree colleges was given to the Prayagraj-headquartered Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC). But since then, the directorate of higher education has neither sought requisition of vacant posts of librarians from the institutions nor started the process of appointment, the principal added.

Even state higher education department officials concede that besides the 200 odd posts of librarians lying vacant in government run degree colleges, more than 100 posts of librarians are also vacant in 170 government degree colleges in different UP districts.

“At present, librarians are working in only 36 out of 170 government-run degree colleges in UP. In around two dozen of these colleges, even posts of librarians have not been created while more than 110 colleges do not have regular librarians. In these, the appointments are to be done through the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). But after 2005 and 2008, the commission too has not issued any advertisements for recruitment of librarians in these institutions,” the officials share.