Top IIT and IIM professors will miss three years of a special pay grade they were promised, under a human resource development ministry order that has triggered fears of faculty protests among institute authorities.
Unlike all other pay hikes for faculty that are being implemented with
effect from January 1, 2006, the special pay grade for 40 per cent professors at these institutes will be valid only from August 18, 2009.
The faculty selected in the 40 per cent will, as a consequence, not receive the extra pay as arrears but will receive pay according to the rules applicable to other professors for the 2006 to 2009 period.
The academic grade pay – which defines the rank of a teacher within a pay band -- for professors is Rs 10,500 a month and Rs 12,000 a month for those selected in the 40 per cent. The special pay was incorporated for the best among professors to discourage stagnation and retain them in the face of lucrative industry offers. These professors are picked based on research work, publications, teaching feedback and other parameters.
IIT directors have articulated their concerns over the August 26 order to the ministry amid fears of a revival of unprecedented faculty protests that rocked IIT campuses last year, top institute sources told HT.
"This order has the potential to create problems once again. But I am sure the government also has its compulsions," a director said.
Ministry sources said the order was just a "clarification" to help implement the new pay structure. "The special category of professors did not exist in 2006, so how can IITs expect to be paid for something that didn’t exist?" an official argued.
But a senior professor at IIT Bombay pointed out that the order specifically hurt those who would be selected in the best 40 per cent. "None of the current salaries existed in 2006. Is the government trying to say that these 40 per cent professors became worthy of the extra pay on some arbitrary date the ministry set," he questioned.