More than 400 teaching and non-teaching staff in 11 society-run government arts and science, professional and paramedical colleges in Puducherry are yet to get their salaries for August.
Although the crisis has come to affect all the 19 society-run government colleges in the Union Territory, some of them including the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research (RIVER) and Pondicherry Engineering College have resorted to utilising funds raised by them under different heads including grants from the University Grants Commission. But the crisis is looming large in all the society-run colleges.
The Puducherry Government formed the Pondicherry Society for Higher Education (Ponshe) in 2007. Three arts and science colleges, a women’s college and a Teachers Education College are under Ponshe while the Mahatma Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Dental Sciences and Mother Theresa Institute of Health Sciences and other professional colleges are administered by separate societies.
A spokesperson of Ponshe said that inspite of repeated reminders the Government has not been able to find a solution to end the grievances of teaching and non-teaching staff. The delay in disbursal of salaries to the staff started in April 2016. While the salary was normally paid one or two weeks beyond the pay day, this is the first time that the staff have not been paid salaries till the 18th of this month.
He said that top level officers in the administration were least bothered to fulfil the basic requirements of teachers.
‘Block sanction’
The Ministry is not aware of a circular issued by the Finance Department that “Block Sanction” should be obtained for six months to one year to pay salaries to staff. Subsequently, the Finance Department said that “Block Sanction” should be obtained by each college to release salaries. This has affected the routine functioning of these colleges.
A section of the staff said the government was taking the stand that the delay in payment was due to a fiscal crisis. Senior bureaucrats are of the view that most of the colleges are run through societies. Hence, they can be put on par with other Corporations like PASIC and PAPSCO, which are business oriented.
These Corporations are now suffering due to indiscriminate backdoor appointment done over the years. But educational institutions run through societies are service-oriented and cannot be put on par with them. These colleges have been started in consonance with the rules of the UGC and the purpose should not be defeated.
A senior faculty member of a college pointed out that the idea behind starting society colleges is to grant administrative autonomy to these institutions. However, of late these colleges have been discriminated from other institutions, in matters right from pay to promotions.
The teaching staff in colleges under Ponshe have been deprived of their basic fulfilment of service conditions as laid down by UGC and the Government such as declaration of probation, confirmation, promotions guaranteed under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).
Notwithstanding this, the teachers and non-teaching staff were doing their duties sincerely. But teaching staff in the society-run colleges have now started an indefinite protest boycotting classes since Friday.
C.H. Balamohan, president of the Confederation of Government Employees Association, said that paucity of funds had led to this dysfunctional state of the society-run colleges. The salaries are released only after teaching and non-teaching staff in the colleges run by the Directorate of Higher Education receive their salaries.
If this situation continues, it will lead to erosion of intake of students in the colleges. The association will organise a day-long sit-in protest in front of the Head Post Office on September 26 demanding immediate payment of pending salaries, he said.
