IIM faculty wants pay hike, NIT teachers do not want to be second in pay row.

After the IITs, its now the turn of the country’s premier management institutes, the IIMs, to raise the banner of revolt against the pay hikes for their faculty, recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission. Peeved by the short shrift given to them by the government, the faculty members of the elite Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad have decided to approach the Centre within a week with demands for the upgrade of their pay packages.

At a two-hour long faculty committee meeting spearheaded by IIM-A director Sameer Baruah, a decision has been taken to seek redressal from the Centre failing which the IIM-A faculty will be forced to explore other stronger forms of agitation, including resorting to mass casual leave and strikes in line with what the faculty of the IITs are currently adopting. The IIM-A faculty is planning to work in tandem with the other two older IIMs, namely IIM Bangalore and IIM Kolkata, to work out a strategy of making their displeasure felt. “We are not banking on the support of the newer IIMs as they are likely to be browbeaten by the centre into towing its line given their dependence on the centre for their funds,” revealed a senior faculty member on condition of anonymity.

He further disclosed that there was major disgruntlement within the IIM-A against the Sixth Pay Commission notification received last week from the Centre. “Though the exact implications are still being worked out and the salary hike will range anywhere between 15 to 40% depending on parameters like number of years of service etc, one thing is clear. We’ve not been given our due as a premier institute both by the government and the bureaucracy,” the professor said.

According to him, the IIMs have not been given their due as the best management institutes in the country. “While earlier as per the old scale, an assistant professor of an IIT or IIM was paid two to three levels above the UGC grade, the Sixth Pay Commission has downgraded this difference. What is the rationale for doing this given the fact that we are institutes of excellence,” he asked.

Furthermore, the faculty members also felt that if the country really needed world-class institutes, the salaries should be commensurate with the that. For instance, they demanded parity of salaries with the salaries being paid to the Secretaries to the Centre and the top executives of navratnas and public sector...

Source : The Financial Express.

NIT teachers in no mood to play second fiddle

The revision of payscales of teachers of national institutes of technology (NITs) by HRD ministry has stirred a hornest"s nest with NIT teachers in no mood to play second fiddle to their counterparts at IITs and IIMs in the backdrop of the fact that draft of `Vision 2020' document states that the NITs should be brought at par with IITs. Moreover, the Knowledge Commission, set up by the UPA government has also laid stress on enhancing the number of qualified technocrats in the country.
Discussing the issue with TOI, director, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), AB Samaddar said, "We have discussed the issue of disparity in payscales at a meeting of NIT directors. Some of the issues require urgent attention. An eight-member projection committee has been formed which will put the case before HRD ministry and cite the contributions and achievements being made by NITs in the sphere of technical education of the country."

It may be recalled that government of India issued a GO No. F.No.23-1/2009-TS-II, dated August 18, 2009 for implementing Sixth Pay Commission scales to teaching staff in NITs and other technical institutions. But the payscales and allowances sanctioned through this GO are different for different institutions of national importance like IITs and NITs.

Secretary of MNNIT Teachers Association Mukul Shukla said that at the entry level, a lecturer re-designated as assistant professor is placed in PB3 rank and recommended time-bound promotions as stated in UGC payscales, 2006, which is against the spirit of human resource development. It will makes a lecturer wait for many years to get promotion to the next cadre. "We are demanding that an assistant professor with PhD be given seven increments with advanced grade pay (AGP) of Rs 8,000 and promoted to the post of associate professor after being placed in PB4 rank after three years. We also demand that assistant professor with MTech be given three increments with AGP of Rs 7,000 and then given AGP of Rs 8,000 after three years of service. Then upon getting PhD, he/she must be promoted to associate professor after three years," he said.

He demanded that the present cadre of assistant professors be designated as associate professors. The minimum basic pay in PB4 for associate professor and professor must be fixed at Rs 44,000 and Rs 49,000 respectively.

It is pertinent to mention that erstwhile RECs were upgraded to NITs in 2002, keeping in view the report of Knowledge Commission to increase the number of qualified technocrats. Presently there are 20 NITs and 10 more are likely to start in the near future.

Source : Times of India.