Not happy with new rules, IIT faculty may go on protest again

After protests from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) faculty, the government put out a revised circular on pay and service norms this week. But all the eight IIT faculty bodies have rejected it in meetings held over the last three days.

After protests from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) faculty, the government put out a revised circular on pay and service norms this week. But all the eight IIT faculty bodies have rejected it in meetings held over the last three days.

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They called the minor revisions “a cosmetic change”, and have threatened to go on mass casual leave again, after their national faculty federation meets on September 21.

In a revision to its August circular for faculty of technical institutions, Human Resource Development Ministry has done away with the entry-level post of ‘Lecturer/Post-Doctoral Fellow’.

The note stated people appointed to the post will be recruited on contractual basis and called ‘Assistant Professors’, but it has retained other conditions, such as mandating three years of prior work.

President of the IIT Faculty Federation M. Thinmozhi said, “This circular has still left our main concerns unaddressed .....attracting young scholars as Assistant Professors, and not having a 10% ceiling on movement of meritorious academics to higher cadres.”

Meanwhile, in an open letter to the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Faculty Forum at IIT-K said these restrictions would have serious ramifications on the ethos and culture of excellence of the IIT system.