Thiruvananthapuram: The decision of the HRD ministry to accept recommendations made by a five-member committee of the UGC to implement 20 per cent pay hike for central university teachers is set to have an echo in the state. If the past experience is any indication, the state government is likely to follow suit and implement the same in state universities and colleges. All Kerala Private College Teachers Association (AKPCTA) general secretary K.L. Vivekanandan told this newspaper that the state government had implemented the last pay scale proposed by the UGC in 2006.
However, the retirement age fixed by the UGC then at 65 was not implemented. As part of implementing the pay scale, a performance-linked promotion system was suggested by the committee appointed by the UGC. The panel had also suggested that the new salaries be paid with retrospective effect from January 2016. According to the recommendations, a teacher's starting package will be revised by a multiplier of 2.72, applied to the basic salary and academic grade pay (AGP). For instance, a directly recruited professor who gets around Rs 43,000 as basic, Rs 10,000 as AGP and dearness allowance now will be entitled to a basic salary of Rs 1.44 lakh which would subsume the DA.
