E-Paper
PU finance board to take up revised budget estimates, pay scale revision
The revised scales were notified by the Punjab government last month, following which PU teachers had sought their timely implementation
The long-awaited adoption of University Grants Commission (UGC) pay scales as per the 7th Central Pay Commission for teachers and equivalent cadres will be taken up by Panjab University’s Board of Finance (BoF) at its upcoming meeting on October 14.
The revised scales were notified by the Punjab government last month, following which varsity teachers had sought their timely implementation.
The move will result in higher pay for hundreds of PU teachers that has been held up since 2018 due to Punjab government’s delay in implementing the revised UGC pay scales. There are around 580 permanent faculty members at the university.
BoF will also take up the revised budget estimates for 2022-23, as per which varsity’s total expenditure for the fiscal is ₹992.29 crore, of which the expenditure on salaries alone is ₹412 crore, including ₹13.28 crore for teaching and non-teaching employees on account of revision of pay scales proposed to be released from November 2022. Also, the payment of arrears after revision in salaries and pension from 2016 till October 31 will lead to a one-time burden of ₹269 crore.
However, varsity’s internal income and annual maintenance grants comes to only ₹677 crore, due to which the university has proposed a supplementary grant of ₹314 crore to bridge the revenue gap.
As per the proposed budget for the next financial year, the varsity’s revenue expenditure has been pegged at ₹761.7 crore, with expenditure on salaries expected to increase to ₹480 crore. The pay revision of teaching and non-teaching staff will translate into an additional cost of around ₹39.86 crore in 2023-24. The total revenue of the PU in the next financial year has been proposed at ₹761 crore that will include ₹309 crore internal income and ₹333 crore as annual maintenance grants from UGC and Punjab government. The university has proposed a supplementary grant of ₹118 crore for 2023-24 as well.
The BoF will also consider the recommendations of the vice-chancellor to sanction more posts for non-teaching staff at PU’s Constituent College in Dharamkot, Moga. Besides, the V-C has also recommended proportional increase in the amount of stipend paid to MDS students at PU’s dental college as and when their course fee is hiked.
