IIT-Bombay faculty joins nationwide protest for higher pay

Faculty members here continued to teach but wore black badges as a mark of protest.

They said Union HRD Ministry should consider their demand seriously as they are overburdened with additional 27 per cent of students admitted through OBC quota and also have to cater to new branches of IITs.

The faculty members had submitted a memorandum to the Ministry last month in support of their demand.

The IIT faculty is currently getting salaries as per the Sixth Pay Commission report,which according to them,is equal to UGC grade. They,however,want a higher scale as IITs are specialised higher educational institutes.

Meanwhile,IIT-B director Dr Devang Khakhar appealed to the faculty members to desist from any form of protest following an issuance of an order related to pay and allowance by Ministry of Human Resource Development on August 18,2009.

“It is our earnest appeal to colleagues in all IITs to desist from protest or demonstarion. All of us as directors are willing to discuss the matter further. In IIT system we have some stature in the society. We all hope that it will be held as high as expected from all of us,” Khakhar added on behalf of all the directors.

Directors of all IITs met the representatives of IIT Faculty Federation in Chennai on August 23rd. The memorandum submitted by the Federation was duly submitted to HRD Ministry,Khakhar said in a statement issued today.

This memorandum was carefully studied by all directors and HRD officials and subsequently a meeting was held on September 2.

The memorandum of Federation comfirming the demand of the faculty was related to pay and allowances and were discussed in details,he said.

“On one side everyone appreciated the contribution of IIT faculty as well as the IIT system in the overall nation building efforts. On the other side it must be understood that the salary structure eased to be looked into in the context of all Government services and all other university systems,” he said.

Even the education system in India has grown considerably over the years,he said,adding,besides it’s the country has many others national systems of education.

“We all will agree while some special acknowledgment to IITs is needed,we must also acknowledge that the disparity of pay and allowances cannot be too far off from other academicians in the country,” Khakhar said.

Khakhar also informed the faculty that the HRD minister Kapil Sibal was open and positive about the discussion. It was also agreed that several new and innovative schemes will be considered so as to provide as a performance incentives.

This is indeed a very good opportunity for IIT system,the director said. “The IIT system is invited to provide a specific proposal and we are confident there will be more to come in future,” he said.

Celebrating the 51st Teachers Day today,Khakhar said the teachers are at the core of IIT-B. They create standards of learning to help students become outstanding graduates an important contribution to society.