Patna: Just two days before the proposed strike by university and college teachers the Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday approved the UGC pay-scale for them. They would start getting the new scale from the September salary.
Besides, the Assured Career Promotion (ACP) scheme and merger of 50 per cent DA for the teachers and non teaching employees of the universities and colleges were also approved.
The nomenclature of posts has also been changed.
Now Lecturers would be known as Assistant Professors, Readers as Associate Professors and Professors would be known by their old name.
According to HRD Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh there was no alteration in the UGC scale and the salary jump would be 2.5 times. As per the revised scale Lecturers and Senior Lecturers would get Rs 15,600-39,100, along with the grade pay of Rs 6,000. The Readers would get Rs 37,400-67,000, along with grade pay of Rs 9,000. The grade pay would increase by Rs 1,000 with academic excellence. For Professors the new pay-band would be the same as that of Associate Professors with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. In keeping with the UGC scale a Principal of under-graduate college will be placed in the pay-band of Rs 37,400-67,000 with a grade pay of Rs 10,000 and a special allowance of Rs 2,000. For the Principals of the post-graduate colleges the allowance would increase to Rs 3,000.
A Pro-VC would be in the pay-band of Rs 37,400 to 67,000 with a grade pay of Rs 13,000 while a VC will have a fixed basic salary of Rs 80,000. The new scale would be effective from January 1, 2006.
The cabinet decision has much to do with the coming assembly election, feel political observers.