IITs non-teaching staff demand salary hike

The Officers Forum comprising of Group `A' officers and the `Karamchari Sangathan' comprising of Groups B, C and D staff have demanded the revival of the professor VS Ramamurthy Committee. The committee will look into the revision of pay scales in respect of all non-teaching staff across all IITs. CP Singh, an official at the IIT-Kanpur said, "The ministry of HRD had earlier constituted two committees. One under the chairmanship of Professor Goverdhan Mehta to suggest pay revision and other under the Chairmanship of Professor VS Ramamurthy to suggest pay revision in respect of non-teaching staff of all IITs." "Professor VS Ramamurthy committee was subsequently withdrawn and instead a lop-sided pay revision proposed by the ministry officials is being implemented in respect of non-teaching officers and employees of all IITs", Singh further added. Singh further told that non-teaching officers were earlier enjoying parity with the teaching staff up to 3rd pay commission, however pursuant to the 4th Pay Commission, they lost their parity with the teaching staff of IITs and were instead brought at par with the teaching staff of UGC. However, this time around they have been deprived of their parity with the teaching staff of UGC. In this, regard, several representations sent by the non-teaching officers to the ministry and various forums have gone unheeded. Another senior administrative official of the IIT-Kanpur, Mohd Shakeel said, "The non-teaching officers of IITs are in minority as compared to the teaching staff and hence they are always discriminated against and subjected to the arbitrary decisions of the teaching staff who are holding sway in all decision making bodies such as Board of Governors, Finance committee etc." Mohd Shakeel further said that none of these fora have any member from the non-teaching segments and thus the aspirations of non-teaching staffs are always left unattended, which can be gauged from the fact that there is no promotion scheme in respect of non-teaching officer across the IITs for the last several years. The Officers Forum has demanded for the revival of the Professor Ramamurthy Committee and has further resolved to stall all the meetings of the statutory and non-statutory committees, till the restoration of the Professor VS Ramamurthy Committee.
Source : The Times of India.