In a major relief for teachers of government colleges, the Haryana government has relaxed the mandatory rural service condition for faculty of these colleges in the state for cases pending under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).The decision has provided a one-year window for eligible teachers to process their career advancement cases without fulfilling the rural service requirement.The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Higher Education Department, Haryana, issued a letter on September 15, directing all principals of government colleges across the state that the mandatory condition of rural service for concerned teaching faculty in CAS promotion cases had been relaxed for a period of one year from the date of issuance of the order.The Haryana Government College Teachers’ Association (HGCTA) welcomed the decision and expressed gratitude to the state government. It said the decision would help address long-pending CAS cases of around 1,400 teachers who had been waiting for a long time for their promotion to senior scale and selection grades.Dr Rajesh Ranjha, state president of the association and associate professor of History at Government PG College, Karnal, said it was a long-pending demand of government college teachers.“The relaxation is expected to benefit around 1,400 teachers during the one-year period by removing the rural-service requirement as a hurdle in the processing of their CAS cases,” he said, adding that the association had raised the issue before Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda in July at an interaction held in Karnal.Ranjha also thanked Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda and officials of the Higher Education Department for the decision.“Our association will continue to pursue pending issues concerning college teachers through dialogue with the government,” he added.Dr Rashmi Singh, Head of the Department of Mass Communication at Government PG College, Karnal, said it was due to the association’s long efforts that the government had relaxed the mandatory rural service requirement for one year.