Finally, salaries for teachers over 60

It took the state government 16 months to implement its own resolution to extend the retirement age, from 60 to 62 years, of college teachers affiliated to the University of Mumbai.

It took the state government 16 months to implement its own resolution to extend the retirement age, from 60 to 62 years, of college teachers affiliated to the University of Mumbai.

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The government extended the retirement age in February 2011 to fill up vacant teaching posts in several colleges. However, the extension applications of the first batch of 33 Mumbai University teachers were cleared only last week by an order dated July 27.

“I have been teaching for nearly nine months without getting paid,” said Shikha Roy, who teaches organic chemistry at Khalsa College in Matunga. Roy waited all these months unsure if she had a job; she got the sanction last week. “Senior teachers have been doing all the work but feel downgraded, some have lost interest in the work.”

The delay affected the morale and output of the teachers. Unsure of their official status, some were not allotted classes while others taught without being paid all these months. “We were working without getting paid because we weren’t sure if we would be given salaries if we didn’t,” said Sushama Sathe, chemistry teacher at Ruia College in Matunga.

In all, 51 teachers – many of them leading academics in their disciplines — were kept on tenterhooks. “The academic loss is severe and serious,” said AD Sawant, former pro vice chancellor of Mumbai University. “All sorts of work would be affected including teaching, assessment and evaluation.”

Delays occurred at various stages of the process of extensions: college administrations that did not put up the relevant papers in time for approval, or at the university level which waited until two months back to scrutinise, approve and forward the applications, or the state government’s Director of Education (DoE) for the final approval of extension. “There’s a state of confusion,” said CR Sadasivan, president of the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union, “There’s a question mark about the teachers who were not teaching in this period. Besides, what about those who have started receiving their retirement benefits?”

The DoE blamed university officials. “Other universities have been doing it faster,” said a senior official from the department. Pro vice-chancellor of the university, Naresh Chandra justified that “there are no cases pending with us right now” and that the university “will have periodic meetings to clear cases”.

According to University Grant Commission (UGC) guidelines, the retirement extension should be granted until the age of 65 years, a condition that many said the state government should follow, instead of 62 years as the cut-off. “This amounts to discrimination,” said Sawant. “How can you create new conditions for qualifications? The state government is playing with teachers. Salaries are held up, pensions are not settled, and colleges can’t even recruit new teachers. There is too much chaos.”