7th CPC: Pay hike for University staff, faculty likely in July – ET News

 NEW DELHI: The much-awaited pay revision for lakhs of faculty and staffers across higher education institutes is likely to get a go-ahead by Guru Purnima (July 9), effecting an average of 15% salary hike with effect from January 1, 2016.

The Human Resource Development ministry is set to take Cabinet approval to grant an average 15% hike to about eight lakh faculty and staff across all Central and state universities as well as the Centrally funded technical institutes, including IITs, IIMs, NITs, IISERs, sources told ET.

The pay hike—estimated to cost the government Rs 75,000 crore over three years—was also taken up for discussion at the PMO on Monday, ET has learnt.

The last pay revision for teachers in 2006 gave them a pay packet higher than a civil servant and the edge is likely to stay. While academic pay scales are different from civil servants, it is expected that an assistant professor will be paid about Rs 1600 more at basic level vis a vis an entrant civil servant.

The pay revision will benefit about 7.5-8 lakh faculty and staff in state government-funded colleges and universities, 30,000 employees at the Central Universities and about 30,000 at centrally funded technical institutes.

While the cost estimates for central universities and CFTIs is Rs 600 crore each, with the Centre bearing half the cost for states, it will amount to about Rs 12,000 crore. The pay hike will apply to the next three years, mapping on the 7th Pay Commission recommendations to the educational institutes and according a near 15% average salary increment, sources said.

As per 7th pay commission fitment formula, a teacher’s salary will be revised by a multiplier of 2.72 (applied to the basic salary and academic grade pay) for professor and above and a multiplier of 2.67 for assistant professor and above.

Issues of service conditions and tenure will be left for the University Grants Commission to address.

The Pay Review Committee constituted by the UGC had submitted its report to the ministry in February recommending a 20% hike. The pay panel committee for CFTIs had sought a hike in the Cumulat ive Professional Development Allowance for faculty to encourage research work and global exposure for faculty pay parity for Directors of all institutions. While the CPDA hike has been accepted by the HRD ministry, it has been decided to retain the higher salary structure for directors of institutes of national importance.