One lakh staffers not paid salaries in Punjab, private tech colleges get AICTE warning

Salaries of about one lakh faculty and non-teaching staff have been held back for March, and in some instances for February, by many private unaided technical colleges

Salaries of about one lakh faculty and non-teaching staff have been held back for March, and in some instances for February, by many private unaided technical colleges in Punjab following the nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

HT Image

There are 1,650 unaided colleges in Punjab with a lakh teaching and non-teaching staff.

Taking cognisance of the matter, technical education regulator All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has also issued a circular, a copy of which was seen by Hindustan Times, directing all colleges to pay salaries or face action, which means withdrawal of college approval.

College authorities in the meantime say they have no other option as they are not allowed to charge fee from the students till the lockdown continues or the Union government releases pending funds.

In response, the president of the Punjab Unaided Colleges Association, Anshu Kataria says: “Around one lakh staff members have not been paid the salaries for March, some even for February.”

“AICTE had directed us to not force students to pay fees during the lockdown, but is asking us to pay salaries. The colleges do not have funds now and we have requested the state and Central governments to release the post matric scholarship funds of Rs 1,850 crore that’s pending for the last four years,” he adds.

For teachers and other staff, these are hard times. “I have not been paid for the last two months and now the management refuses to pay us, saying they aren’t allowed to charge fees from students. I am paying installments for my house and feel stressed as I don’t know how to manage my finances,” says a private college teacher in Kharar.

In its circular issued to the colleges on April 15, the AICTE chairman asked for salaries of February and March to be paid failing which it said action would be initiated, which meant withdrawal of college approval.

College managements, however, said payments could not be made as fees had not been received from students. The government would do well to release the post matric scholarship funds of Rs 1,850 crore pending for around 36 to 48 months, they added.

Another teacher from a Mohali college says finding a job in these times is tough. “We don’t know what to do as till now we dug into our savings to buy essentials and. I have to pay loan installments for the car too.”

The senior vice president of the Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association (PUTIA), Manjit Singh, adds, “Some of colleges have not paid the salaries from the past five to six months and we have been expecting at least Rs 500 crore from the Union government pertaining to scholarship grants that’s pending since the past three years, but we have not got anything.”