Chandigarh: PU’s house allotment panel declines dental faculty’s objections

Complaining about the eligibility criteria for house allotment last year, the faculty members had demanded that the condition of minimum basic pay of ₹40,000 for F/T1-type and ₹45,000 for G-type houses should be eliminated, as it is not only arbitrary and unjustifiable but also discriminatory

The house allotment committee (HAC) of Panjab University has declined the objections raised by the faculty members of varsity’s Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital.

In its recent meeting, PU’s house allotment panel recommended that the previous rule of eligibility for these houses, as decided by the syndicate, should be followed. (HT file photo)

Complaining about the eligibility criteria for house allotment last year, the faculty members had demanded that the condition of minimum basic pay of ₹40,000 for F/T1-type and ₹45,000 for G-type houses should be eliminated, as it is not only arbitrary and unjustifiable but also discriminatory. There are nearly 40 permanent faculty members at the dental institute.

However, in its recent meeting, HAC recommended that the previous rule of eligibility for these houses, as decided by the syndicate, should be followed.

The recommendation is subject to the approval of the vice-chancellor.

In their representation, the dental faculty members had stated that they were not covered under any career advancement scheme (CAS) till now. Hence, their pay scales will never match their peers in the university.

“To bring about parity in this context, the eligibility criteria for T-1, T-1 (flats) and F-type houses for senior assistant professors/senior lecturers of the dental institute should also be 12 years of service, when the assistant professors in other teaching departments of PU become eligible for these categories of houses (as they get promotion from assistant professor to associate professor in 12 years through CAS),” the dental faculty had stated their representation.

After deliberating over these objections, HAC resolved, “The dental faculty has higher starting salaries, through Punjab pay scales, than their counterparts in the university. Taking this into consideration, the syndicate had normalised their eligibility for F/T-1 and G-type houses at ₹40,000 and ₹45,000, respectively, and made it a part of rule 2.1 in PU calendar volume III. Hence, the same be followed.”

A dental faculty member, requesting anonymity, said the panel did not address any concern raised by them.

During the meeting, HAC also recommended that the next counselling for the allotment of these types of houses be held at the earliest.