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Teachers' bodies not happy with pay commission report

Various teachers' organisations have expressed resentment over the UGC-Pay Review Committee's recommendations, saying the report has fallen short of
their expectations as it has several "anomalies".

The Delhi University Teachers' Association has said major demand of teachers for higher pay scale to lecturers so as to attract talent to the university system has not been accepted.

"The demand for introduction of professorship/professor's grade in all colleges to retain talent has not been considered by the committee headed by Prof G K Chadha," it said.

DUTA representatives on Monday met UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat to air their grievances, its president Aditya Narayan Mishra said.

Democratic Teachers' Front, a teachers' organisation in Delhi University, said the recommendations of the Pay Review Committee with regard to pay scales and service conditions failed to reflect its objective of making the teaching profession more attractive.

It said the UGC had earlier suggested 25 per cent higher entry pay for teachers in comparison to the Group A services and three promotions for all teachers so that teachers could have parity with Group A services in terms of career earnings.

The college teachers have been explicitly downgraded by the recommendations which denied them promotion till professor's grade, it claimed. The DTF demanded a review of the report.

Delhi University Principal's Association, which had asked for senior principals' scale for those principals who have already completed eight to 10 years of service, said the committee has remained silent on the issue.

The Committee has recommended "Sabatical Leave" for college teachers but has not mentioned about "principals" categorically, it said.

Professors' posts have been created in colleges having post-graduate teaching in respective subjects. Similar provisions should be made for colleges offering honours programmes, its president S K Garg said.

Indian National Teacher Congress has said teachers have been denied the third promotion in colleges in the form of professorship/professor's grade as demanded since the last 20 years.

The committee's chairperson Rashmi Bhardwaj will meet HRD Minister Arjun Singh to apprise him the anomalies in the pay structure.

Meanwhile, the UGC members on Tuesday started a two-day meeting to discuss the recommendations. UGC will submit the report to the government by Thursday after its consideration.

The UGC-Pay Review Committee, which submitted its report to the UGC on Friday, has recommended a whopping over 70 per cent pay hike with additional allowances and new positions to academicians.

As per the recommendations, at the entry level, a faculty member will join as an assistant professor, not as a lecturer as earlier, and his new pay band will be between Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100. The teacher at the entry level will be entitled for a grade pay of Rs 6,600. At present, a lecturer's pay scale is between Rs 8,000 to Rs 13,500.

A teacher will be entitled for annual increment of three per cent of the basic salary with compounding effect. Certain teachers with good performance record can get four per cent annual increment.

Similarly, the committee has recommended a new band pay between Rs 37,400 to Rs 67,000 for professor against the existing scale of Rs 16,400 to Rs 22,400.