New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) The faculty members of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have threatened agitation from March 20 if the government does not soon announce a revised payscale for them, but have also assured that they will not disrupt the academic session.
According to members of the faculty of these premium institutions, a general fear is looming large that their payscales may be downgraded along with those for other colleges run by the central government.
'There is fear and uncertainty among IIT teachers about the new payscale being proposed by the human resources development ministry,' said Sunil Pandey, president of the All India IIT Faculty Federation.
'There are rumours that our salaries will be brought at par with what teachers of other engineering institutions get. This is certainly not acceptable to us,' Pandey told IANS.
'We have approached the government. But they have refused to give us a time frame by which our new payscales will be notified. If we fail to get a response by March 20, our agitation will begin.'
He, however, made it clear that their agitation will not disrupt the academic session. 'We are teachers, responsible teachers. We have our demands, and we also know our responsibilities.'
The IITs have some 2,500 teachers on their rolls.
The federation has also appealed to President Pratibha Patil, who is also the Visitor of the IITs, apart from the Prime Minister's Office to demand an early notification of their new pay structure.
Since February, teachers at the seven IITs are being made an ad hoc payment, along with their salaries, till their new salary structures are finalised.
The government had constituted a committee under Govardhan Mehta, a former IIM director, to suggest a new salary structure for a host of technical and central government-run institutions.
Apart from IITs, these include the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), the National Institutes of Technology (NIT), the Indian Institute of Science (IISs).
The committee's report is with the government.
Some faculty members at the IITs said they would oppose any move that seeks to downgrade their pay structures, saying they were part of one of India's most prestigious institutions.
The seven IITs, which have earned global recognition for the quality of higher technical education, are in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee.
Work is also on for eight more IIT across the country.
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