Srinagar, July 29 -- These are not rookies or part-time tutors. They are the backbone of government colleges across Jammu and Kashmir. They've held the system together in remote districts, volatile towns, and disrupted semesters.

And yet, the state pays them Rs.28,000 a month. That's less than the salary of a freshly appointed peon.

The injustice is not new. It's just growing old, and harder to excuse.

Across the Union Territory, the Higher Education Department has refused to bring these lecturers under the University Grants Commission (UGC) pay structure, despite their qualifications and years of full-time service. Meanwhile, institutions such as the University of Kashmir, IUST, and SKUAST-K have already implemented the UGC-recommende...