Punjabi University adopts secretariat pay cut decision during finance committee meet

Withdrawal of the secretariat allowance will affect at least 2,500 employees of the varsity.

The Punjabi University, Patiala, has finally decided to adopt the orders of the Punjab government related to withdrawing the secretariat allowance of its employees during the finance committee meeting held here on Wednesday.

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With this decision, the non-teaching staff of Punjabi University, from deputy registrars to drivers, are going to face a salary cut, ranging from ₹600 to ₹7,000.

In December, the state government had directed all state varsities to withdraw the said allowance. The Panjab University, Chandigarh, had already decided not to pay secretariat allowance to its employees.

In a written communiqué to the Punjabi University, the state government had warned the varsity of a cut in their government grant if they do not withdraw the secretariat allowance immediately.

University registrar Professor Manjit Singh Nijjar said the issue was discussed in detail before taking the decision of withdrawing the secretariat pay.

“It is one of the burning issues and thus all aspects are taken into consideration before reaching any conclusion. The government letter is adopted in its original version,” the registrar said.

He added that withdrawal of the secretariat pay will affect at least 2,500 varsity employees. “The varsity will give an undertaking to the state government in this regard, in the coming days,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior member of the finance committee submitted a dissent note into the matter and asked varsity to move state government to review the decision. However, his take was not taken into consideration.

Another senior official, pleading anonymity, said that the Punjabi varsity has no other option than to withdraw the secretariat pay as they cannot afford a cut in the monthly funds.

“The university is facing acute financial crunch. And government has already delayed the monthly grants of January due to which the salaries of employees were delayed by 10-15 days,” another official said.

Secretariat allowance is a special allowance given to the clerical staff of the civil secretariat of Punjab government, which is also being paid to the non-teaching employees of the state universities since 1970s.

The state government views: “Universities have never been equated with the civil secretariat office by the government of Punjab, and hence, any benefit granted to state secretariat employees cannot be made applicable to the university employees.”