Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, December 28
Crores of rupees have been spent on the purchase of books and development of infrastructure for the state’s libraries, but in the absence of librarians and library restorers, these are still crying for attention. Due to shortage of staff, many libraries are on the verge of closure.
As many as 70 out of 96 posts of college cadre librarian in the state are lying vacant and there is no librarian working in 32 government colleges out of 48 in the state. Besides, 42 out of 72 posts of library restorer are lying vacant, affecting the functioning of libraries in government colleges and district/public libraries in the state.
There are 68 posts of librarian in government colleges and 50 posts
of library restorer but
out of these, 51 posts
of librarian and 30
posts of library restorers are lying vacant.
In addition to these, there are 28 posts of librarian and 22 posts of library restorer in district libraries, out of which 21 posts of librarian and 12 posts of library restorer are vacant.
Notably, college cadre librarian is a gazetted class I post and the Punjab Public Service Commission is the recruiting authority. The minimum qualification for this post is a masters’ degree in library science and clearing the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC or PhD.
But, due to the
prevailing situation, many government libraries are being managed by class
IV employees.
Ironically, no recruitment of college cadre librarians has been made in the last 16 years.
The last appointments were made in 1998
and now, about 73 per
cent of these posts are lying vacant.
Even though the Punjab College Librarians’ Association (regd) has been time and again urging
the state government to fill these posts for the smooth functioning of libraries, no action has been initiated.
Association president Barjinder Pal Dhiman said, “Though the government is giving us
assurances, they are not taking any concrete
steps in this regard. Meanwhile, college principals are compelled to recruit temporary people from PTA funds or class IV employees, who are incompetent to handle library affairs.”