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Revised pay scales, annual budget to be taken up during PU syndicate’s meeting
PU teachers have been awaiting the benefits of the University Grants Commission (UGC) revised pay scales as per the 7th central pay commission since 2018
With Panjab University (PU) teachers awaiting the benefits of the University Grants Commission (UGC) revised pay scales as per the 7th central pay commission, the varsity’s syndicate will take a call on its implementation as recommended by the board of finance (BoF) in its meeting on Monday.
The executive body will consider all the recommendations made by the board — including the varsity’s annual budget.
The BoF, in its October 14 meeting, had recommended that the Punjab government’s September notification regarding the revision of pay scales be adopted for implementation.
A long-standing demand, the revision of pay scales will result in higher salaries for hundreds of PU teachers — which has been held up since 2018 due to the Punjab government’s delay in implementation. There are over 600 permanent faculty members at the university.
The BoF had also recommended that the ministry of education/UGC and government of Punjab may reset/redetermine the yearly amount of salary grant to be released to PU in view of the implementation of revised scales.
“After the implementation of revised scales, the issue of payment of arrears be taken up separately,” the board has further added.
Call on budget
The syndicate will also take a call on the revised estimates for the 2022-23 financial year and budget estimates for 2023-24 as recommended by the board of finance.
As per the varsity’s revised budget for 2022-23 financial year, the total expenditure for the fiscal stood at ₹992.29 crore, of which the expenditure on salaries alone amounted to ₹412 crore — including ₹13.28 crore for teaching and non-teaching employees on account of revised scales proposed to be released from November 2022.
Also, payment of arrears after revision in salaries and pension from 2016 till October 31 will lead to a one-time burden of ₹277 crore.
With the varsity’s internal income and annual maintenance grants coming to only ₹677 crore, PU has proposed a supplementary grant of ₹314 crore to bridge the revenue gap.
As per the proposed budget for the next financial year, the revenue expenditure has been pegged at ₹761.7 crore — with salary costs expected to increase to ₹480 crore. The pay revision will translate into an additional cost of around ₹39.86 crore in 2023-24.
The total revenue for PU in the next financial year, meanwhile, has been proposed at ₹761 crore and will include ₹309 crore internal income and ₹333 crore as annual maintenance grants from UGC and the Punjab government. The university has proposed a supplementary grant of ₹118 crore for 2023-24 as well.
