DUTA Press Release; 8 February 2018

                                                                                                                     
More than four thousand teachers and karmacharis marched from Feroz Shah Kotla to the UGC today while the meeting of the full Commission was taking place. Protesting against the negative recommendations of 7th Pay Revision Notification, the vibrant DUTA-DUCKU programme reflected the dismay and the anguish of the university community about the implications of the funding formula by which the universities are being forced to generate resources to the tune of at least 30%.

Teachers and Representatives of Jamia Teachers’ Association (Prof. Musheer Ahmad, President, and Dr. Veermani, Joint Secretary), IGNOUTA (Prof. C R K Murthy, President) and Aligarh Muslim University Teachers’ Association (Prof. Mujahid Baig, President). Many students also joined the protest in solidarity with their teachers and against the fee hike which may result from the recent Government policies.

Teachers and karamcharis are anguished about the delay in disbursement of revised salaries as per the 7th Pay Revision. There is a growing fear it may get further delayed because of the 30-70% funding formula notified by the MHRD.  As per the MHRD Office Memorandum (13.01.2017), the Central Universities are supposed to get only 70% of the enhanced financial burden on account of the Pay Revision, the rest to be met by the Universities through self-generation of resources. This is an unprecedented attack on the character of the public-funded institutions as it threatens to reduce funds to institutions of higher learning. Also State Universities have been allocated only 50% of Central assistance and that too for a reduced period of 39 months, i.e. till 31.03.2019, as opposed to the Central assistance of 80% for 51 months in the last pay revision. Withdrawal of public funding will push the burden of maintaining Central and State Universities on students, it will increase the expenditure of parents and students towards education manifold. Exponential fee hike will push a large section of students out of higher education.

The negative recommendations of 7th Pay Revision Notification have pushed teachers on a war-path. Withdrawal of advance increments for MPhil/ PhD will affect the career progression of teachers who will join the profession late but with higher qualifications. The glaring anomalies of the last pay revision have not been addressed, resulting in downgrading of Assistant Professors at every level. The pay revision has created a situation of compulsory stagnation for all senior teachers, including Associate Professors, Professors and Principals very soon. The fitment formula for incumbent teachers on 1.1.2016 is retained at 2.57 which amounts to a measly 14.27% increase: the lowest in independent India. This is starkly in contrast to the last two pay revisions where the minimum increase across all categories of teachers was 40% in basic pay.  Allowances for teachers have been delinked from Central Govt employees and the MHRD notification stipulates that till the Ministry of Finance decides on the revised allowances of teachers, all allowances will be paid according to the pre-revised pay structure. Also, it is shocking that the MHRD notification contains no reference to the revised pension benefits for teachers in accordance to the provisions of the 7th Pay Revision.

It is also the first time that the report of the Pay Review Committee was kept in complete secrecy. The DUTA could get a copy of Chauhan Committee Report only recently through an RTI filed by a faculty member. However, even without making it public the Government had already set up another committee to look into the service conditions and it is not clear what the Government intends to do with promotional avenues for teachers. Teachers across the country have been denied promotions for the past 10 years because of the irrational API. Nothing short of a complete Roll Back of the API which has led to dilution of academic standards and downgraded teaching is acceptable. The retrospective implementation of API in Delhi University must be addressed and the issue of the counting of past services must be settled.

The Budget speech of the Finance Minister of 1st February made it clear that the policy thrust will be on commercialisation of Higher Education, turning public funded institutions of repute into teaching shops and replacing grants with loans for creating infrastructure. While the budget allocation to schemes like Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) and Institute of Excellence has increased manifold, the budget allocations to the UGC, IITS, IIMs and RUSA have either been reduced or have remained stagnant. Teachers are exercised about the fact that the budget allocation to the UGC does not reflect the additional expenses required for implementing the 7th Pay Revision.

The DUTA will use now mobilise intensively amongst students and parents. The DUTA-DUCKU have now given a call of a Joint Rally from Mandi House to Parliament Street on 16 February, 2018. The DUTA has started inviting students and students’ organisations to join the movement. The DUTA will also mobilise Members of Parliament for the 16 February Rally. The DUTA warns the Government against anti-people education policies and negative service conditions.