The stand-off between the IIT faculty and the government over the “anomalies” in the pay structure finally ended on Saturday with the teachers’ body deciding to accept the new package in the “interest” of the institutes, but maintained that concerns still remain.
The All India IIT Faculty Federation, which met here, asked the teachers of the seven IITs to agree to the new pay structure.
“We have requested the faculty to accept the pay package in the interest of the IIT system. But we will pursue with the Ministry of HRD and the board of governors of the IITs on certain issues till they are resolved,” Faculty Federation president Prof M. Thenmozhi told PTI here.
The issues of concern of the faculty include a 40 per cent cap on promotion of professors to senior grade and the provision of contractual appointment at entry level.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has assured the faculty that the government guidelines on the pay structure are norms which can be relaxed for promoting excellence.
“We are not happy that these issues were not taken up by the IIT Council meeting. We expect these issues will be taken up by board of governors of the IITs. If they are not sorted out, we will take them up with the government,” she said.
The faculty has been opposing these provisions in the pay structure for the last two months.
Ms. Thenmozhi said that the federation has been demanding that faculty with Ph.D and three years of experience at entry level should get a higher pay band than what is meant for them at present.
As per the present pay system, faculty with six years of experience at the level of associate professors will be eligible for the Pay-Band four, which gives a higher pay.
The faculty has also been demanding Additional Grade Pay at par with counterparts in other national level institutions.
It has been demanding flexible cadre system in the IITs also.
These issues did not come up for discussion in detail at the IIT Council meeting last week. However, Mr. Sibal told the council that the board of governors of the institutes can relax the norms in exceptional cases.
Now, the board of governors will decide modalities on how to relax the norms and lay down procedures in this regard.
The Faculty Federation had gone on a day-long fast on September 24 to protest the “anomalies” in the pay structure.
Ms. Thenmozhi said she expects that a decision will be taken once the board of governors of most IITs meet this month
