Don’t cut salary,it will be contempt of court: MFUCTO

After the HC verdict on teachers’ strike on Friday,Minister for Higher and Technical Education Rajesh Tope had told the media that a section of teachers would lose their salary.

MFUCTO president Shivaji Patil said on Saturday,“The court has ordered universities and colleges to not take further action on showcause notices issued to teachers over boycott of exam work,and going by that,the state government cannot withhold salaries. Any step to withhold teachers’ salaries would tantamount to contempt of court. Also,teachers are entitled to their salaries as remuneration for exam work is paid separately.”

The state government had earlier decided to withhold salaries from March by invoking ‘no work,no pay’ policy. As many as 40,000 teachers and over 2,500 in Pune division would be affected if the threat is carried out.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha,hearing a petition by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad seeking court’s intervention to resolve the exam-related boycott of teachers,had on Friday asked MFUCTO to cooperate with universities to ensure results are on time.

MFUCTO,meanwhile,said that the 96-day standoff between senior college teachers and the state government could end only due to the rational stand it had taken before the High Court.

“On Friday,we submitted an affidavit in court stating MFUCTO would withdraw the agitation provided the state government gives concrete assurances on its three major demands,Sixth Pay Commission arrears,withdrawal of GR dated March 6 that is objectionable for non-NET-SET teachers and payment of Rs 14,940 on completion of five years of service in selection grade,” Patil said.

While the state government has agreed to release Sixth Pay Commission arrears by making provisions in the monsoon session of the legislature,it is expected to take a call on the GR within a fortnight.

MFUCTO welcomed the court order that asks government to set up a grievance redressal mechanism for teachers to raise demands. “Such a mechanism would ensure timely discussion and deliberations on teachers’ just demands,and extreme steps like strikes and boycott could be easily avoided,” Patil said.