Aided College Lecturers Launch Protest Over Delay In CAS Benefits
The protest, organised jointly by the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the Madras University Teachers Association (MUTA), began with around 250 professors participating, including nearly 100 women faculty members.
Chennai: The lecturers of government-aided colleges across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday launched a continuous sit-in protest in front of the Directorate of Collegiate Education in Chennai, demanding immediate implementation of Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) salary benefits and arrears that are pending for more than four years.
The protest, organised jointly by the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the Madras University Teachers Association (MUTA), began with around 250 professors participating, including nearly 100 women faculty members. The teachers say the delay in implementing the scheme has caused financial hardship and created discrimination between teachers working in government colleges and those in government-aided institutions.
According to the associations, the Government Order through the Higher Education Department on January 11, 2021, to implement the CAS based on the recommendations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the 7th Pay Commission. While teachers in government colleges have reportedly received CAS promotions along with salary arrears, the same benefits have not been fully extended to teachers working in government-aided colleges.
Teacher representatives allege that in some regions only a few faculty members have received partial benefits, while many others have been given only promotion orders without the corresponding salary revisions or arrears. Tamil Nadu has eight collegiate education regions, and the implementation of the scheme has been inconsistent across them, the associations claim.
