Panels to study IIT faculty's greivances over pay structure

Updated on: Monday, October 05, 2009

New Delhi: Directors of Indian Institutes of Technology today decided to set up two committees to look into the grievances of faculty which has been protesting against 'anomalies' in their pay structure.

A day after HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the IITs are free to relax the pay structure norms to attract talent, Directors of the premier institutes held a three-hour meeting with the faculty to discuss how to take the matter forward.

The IIT Directors decided to set up committees which will suggest criteria for promotion of professor to senior grade and evolve modalities for implementation of Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS).

While one committee will suggest the process for the upgradation of professors to the next additional grade pay, the other committee will evaluate the nuances on PRIS. Director of IIT, Kanpur, Sanjay Dhande said the committee to look into promotion of professors is likely to submit its report in four to six weeks and the committee on PRIS will come up with its recommendations in two months.

After meeting the representatives of All India IIT Faculty Federation, Dhande said the recommendation will form the basis on which a 'professor will move from Rs 10,500 academic grade pay to Rs 12,000 academic grade pay'.

Dhande said steps would be taken to ensure that bright young people join IIT faculty. The IIT faculty has been saying the provision for contractual appointment at entry level will not attract young people to join the faculty.

'We want to have young people. In no way they should have discomfort. As we have been attracting the best talents so far, we should continue to do so,' Dhande said.

The meeting assumes significance as the IIT faculty is keeping its agitation plan alive even though the teachers had met Sibal who has assured them that the institutes can relax norms for promotion of excellence. Dhande said several other issues were also discussed at the meeting 'point by point' which also included providing medical facilities to the IIT staff after retirement.

President of IIT Delhi faculty forum Prof S S Murthy demanded that the academic grade pay of the IIT faculty which was slashed by Rs 500 after the implementation of the Sixth Pay be restored.

'Though it would be a mere academic gesture, it would nonetheless be a big thing for IIT faculties,' he said. The IIT council meeting is slated for October 19 when a whole gamut of issues is expected to be discussed threadbare, Dhande said.

The issues include taking up the issue of medical facilities for the staff after retirement and improving the percentage of foreign students in IITs. He claimed there was no stand-off between the government and the faculties on the issue of pay structure, adding they were 'all together as a team'.

Panels to study IIT faculty's greivances over pay structure

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