UGC sets up panel for pay revision of academic staff

UGC sets up panel for pay revision of academic staff

CHENNAI: The apex higher education body, University Grants Commission (UGC), constituted the pay review commission for pay revision of academic staff of universities and colleges on Thursday.

The recommendations submitted by this committee will have an impact on seven lakh teachers across the country in various State-run and deemed universities and colleges.

This committee will review the implementation of previous decisions of the government under the revision of pay scale scheme approved for academic staff and evaluate the extent to which the earlier recommendations in relation to qualifications, service conditions and pay-scales were implemented.

The five-member committee, headed by UGC member V S Chauhan, has also been assigned the task of examining the present emolument structures and suggest revision taking minimum advancement, career advancement opportunities and total packets of benefits available to them into account.

The members have been instructed to submit recommendations over attracting and retaining talented persons in teaching profession and methods to improve the quality of research along with the above mentioned tasks before December 9.

The committee has been constituted in the backdrop of increased protests by the teaching fraternity to scrap use of Academic Performance Index (API) for career progression. Supporting this, academic staff from Tamil Nadu have demanded revival of the earlier scheme of self-appraisal system.

Former principal of AM Jain College, Chennai C R Ravi said that the recent amendment to UGC Regulation 2010 has virtually disqualified PhD-holders prior to July 2009 as ineligible for appointment as Assistant Professors. Expecting retrospective fulfilment by having two research journals besides participation in two conferences in area of research is impossible. “So the committee shall recommend that all those who acquired or enrolled for PhD prior to the date of the Regulations of 2009 are deemed to have met the norms”, he added.

Though the fifth UGC pay revision was implemented from January 1, 1996, the benefit of promotion was given effect to only from July 27, 1998 by the Education Ministry. Further, the Ministry gave a higher start of pay only for selection grade lecturers who reached that stage by January 1, 1996 and not later.