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Panjab University senate adopts sixth pay commission for non-teaching staff
Paves way for increase in salaries of over 3,000 non-teaching staff at Panjab University; but hike subject to receipt of additional grant
The Panjab University (PU) senate on Sunday agreed to adopt the Punjab Sixth Pay Commission for its non-teaching staff, paving the way for the salary hike long awaited by over 3,000 such employees.
While deliberating on the recommendations of the Board of Finance (BoF), the senate gave in-principle approval for the pay hike, which will cost the varsity ₹32 crore annually. But the disbursement of the revised salaries and arrears will be subject to sanction/receipt of additional grant.
For the teaching staff, who have been awaiting revised salary scales as per the UGC Seventh Pay Commission, the senate members resolved to forward a representation to the newly formed Punjab government to implement it.
Around 680 permanent faculty members at the varsity have been deprived of the benefit of the revised pay scales due to the delay by the Punjab government in enforcing the UGC Seventh Pay Commission.
While university’s non-teaching staff come under the purview of the Punjab Service Rules, the teaching staff are covered under the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules. The senate, which met in physical mode after a gap of more than two years, also approved the varsity’s annual budget of ₹1,014 crore for the 2022-23 financial year, as recommended by the BoF in its March 11 meeting.
The budget includes the additional burden of over ₹300 crore due to the implementation of revised pay scales for the teaching and non-teaching staff.
The senate also approved the implementation of the reservation in promotion for the non-teaching staff. The issue was taken up urgently, as the Punjab government had informed the university that the pending grant for the current financial year will lapse if the reservation in promotion is not implemented.
Promotion policy for dental faculty okayed
The senate also accorded in-principle approval for the implementation of Union health and family welfare ministry’s Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) scheme for the faculty members at Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital.
The university said modalities like approvals from the BoF and other requirements will be worked out. The matter came to the senate after vice-chancellor Raj Kumar gave a hearing to the representatives of the dental faculty, who appeared before him on March 26.
During the hearing, the faculty members maintained that the dental faculty may be allowed the benefits of the DACP, as also outlined by the UGC in 2017.
In May 2019, 37 faculty members had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, arguing that PU had framed a promotion policy/career advancement scheme as per UGC regulations for faculty of all colleges, but the same benefit was not being given to faculty of the dental institute. Senator Hemant Batra, who is also the principal of the dental institute, said the decision had brought respite to the faculty members who had been struggling for long.
Deliberating on the building attachment orders by the municipal corporation over property tax dues worth ₹21 crore, the senate passed a resolution to request the Chandigarh administration for an exemption. “Panjab University is a prestigious institution and should not be treated as a non-government entity/private/commercial institution,” the senate maintained.”
Soon after the meeting began, vice-chancellor Raj Kumar adjourned the House for a while after a ruckus. A few members raised the issue that the MDS students were not allowed to raise their grievances before the senate members regarding payment of stipend .
Senator DPS Randhawa, who also raised the issue, said MDS students had been taking classes of BDS students and also benefitting the university by running clinics. But they were not being paid appropriate incentives, which was injustice and violation of the guidelines of the Dental Council of India (DCI).
The PG dental students have been demanding stipend on par with that being paid to PG students at other government medical institutions in Chandigarh.
Some senate members walked out of the meeting when the supplementary agenda was brought up. The protesting senators, including Naresh Gaur, Jatinder Grover, Rajat Sandhir, DPS Randhawa, argued that there was no provision to take up the supplementary agenda in the meeting, as members should be provided agenda papers at least seven days in advance. They said such important issues needed time to read and understand.
