More teachers reject new pay scales

What started with a DUTA agitation has now caught the fancy of the entire teaching community. Everyone has come up with terms and conditions that should be included during negotiations with HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi.In a change of heart, the Principal’s Association of Delhi University has also rejected the scales announced. At their general body meeting today, they asked for a slab of Rs 18,400-24,500 and have said that they will launch an agitation if they are not given the higher scale.

Rejecting the pay scales, the Indira Gandhi National Open University Teachers’ Association (IGNOUTA) has demanded the immediate implementation of the UGC recommended scales and better promotional avenues.

Further, IGNOUTA has also expressed solidarity with the struggle launched by DUTA against what they term a “thoughtless announcement”. IGNOU teachers have also decided to participate in any form of protest decided by the Federation of Central University Teachers Association (FEDCUTA).

At the general body meeting of the Jawahar Lal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA), it was decided that if the UGC scales are not implemented immediately, they will boycott the evaluation of the All India entrance examinations for the coming session. Terming the government proposal as a “major assault on the teaching community and higher education” JNUTA has expressed solidarity with all other organisations affected by this.

The Delhi University Researchers’ Association (DURA) has asked the ministry to immediately release the revised and enhanced rate of fellowship and allied allowances for research scholars. They have threatened to start an agitation outside the HRD Ministry and the UGC office.

DURA’s charter of demands emphasises the amount allotted for fellowships, which they claim should be equivalent to the basic pay-scale of a lecturer. They also want their House Rent Allowance to be increased by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Association of Young Academics (AYA) have expressed apprehension about the intentions of the DUTA leadership. “We are worried that during negotiations with the HRD minister we will be made the sacrificial lambs,” says Aditya Narayan Misra, convenor of AYA. “The DUTA leadership is not paying attention to our demands. Though everyone is talking about trying to bring in better talent, by giving lecturers a bad deal good people will never come in.”

General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee Oscar Fernandes has also written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the issue. The letter states: “A delay in attending to this simmering discontent amongst the university and college teachers would entail an enormous life-time loss to the students and the nation.”