Teachers protest over 6th Pay implementation

16 Jun 2009, 0635 hrs IST, TNN

PUNE: Over 250 members of the Pune University Teachers' Association (Puta) and Pune University and College Teachers Organisation (Pucto) staged a protest in front of the joint director's (education) office in Camp on Monday, demanding implementation of the 6th Pay Commission.

The protest formed part of the Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation's (MFUCTO) programme to pursue a five-point charter of demands, which includes implementation of the 6th Pay Commission salaries for teachers.

Puta president Atul Bagul said, "The Union government has already acted on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission's Chaddha committee report, by implementing the 6th Pay Commission for teachers at central universities and its affiliated colleges."

He said the Union government had also committed grants to the tune of 80 per cent of the total burden on the states towards implementing the revised pay scales and had asked the state governments to secure these grants by March 31. However, the state government remained indifferent to the move.

According to Puta general secretary Ram Ashtekar, the state government had already announced implementation of 6th Pay Commission recommendations for its 15 lakh employees. However, the department of higher and technical education never forwarded a proposal to the state department of finance seeking revised pay scales for teachers, he said.

As a consequence the state budget this year does not reflect any provision for the revised pay scales for teachers. Ashtekar said the then minister for higher and technical education had promised in December last year that an apt proposal for revised pay scales would be forwarded.

Apart from the pay issue, MFUCTO is agitating for NET/SET exemption for teachers, removal of policy to promote unaided institutions, cancellation of privatisation of the pension scheme and implementation of the leave package announced by the UGC.