Notification for Seventh Pay Commission pay scale for Punjab colleges and universities soon: CM Bhagwant Mann
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Monday announced the implementation of the revised pay scales of the UGC under the Seventh Pay Commission for all colleges and universities in the state from October.
The announcement of implementation comes two months after Bhagwant Mann had made the announcement in the Assembly. The implementation will be done four years after the Seventh Pay Commission notified the revision.
On Monday, Mann made the announcement about the implementation of the revised pay scales from October 1 on the occasion of Teachers’ Day through a video message.
He said the engagement of guest faculty in colleges and universities would be allowed to address the issue of shortage of teaching staff. The honorarium of guest faculty would also be enhanced, the Punjab chief minister added.
The delay in implementation of UGC revised pay scales has been a bone of contention, especially among the teachers of Panjab University, Chandigarh, after the Centre’s move to centralise the varsity. The Centre had recently clarified that the university would remain with Punjab.
The teachers at PU were expecting that the UGC pay scales would be implemented during the Budget Session of the state Assembly, but it was not done.
Mritunjay Kumar, the then president of the Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA), had said then, “The CM had himself made the announcement in the Assembly, but it was surprising that the same does not figure in the budget presented by the government. Only the Government can explain the reason behind this, but we are still waiting for the notification.”
While PU has already adopted the recommendations of the UGC Seventh Pay Commission for revised pay scales, teachers’ wait for a pay hike has continued since 2018 due to Punjab Government’s failure to implement them.
