The pay hike for 8 lakh university and college teachers under the 7th Pay Commission were approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. This is good news for the teachers ahead of Diwali.
The pay hike will be applicable for academic staff in higher educational institutions under the purview of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and in centrally-funded technical institutions, in line with the suggestions made under the 7th Pay Commission for central government employees.

Who will benefit
This would benefit 7.58 lakh teachers and equivalent academic staff in the 106 universities or colleges which are funded either by the UGC or the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Moreover, teachers and academic staff in 329 Universities across the nation which are funded by state governments, and 12,912 government and private-aided colleges affiliated to state public universities also stand to benefit from the rise in salary from 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

Will it benefit technical institutions
The revised pay package will also cover teachers engaged with 119 centrally-funded technical institutions, like IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs, NITIE, among others.

When will be implemented
The revised pay scales will be implemented with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016. The additional presure on the state exchequer to make this pay hike possible is estimated to be close to Rs 9,800 crore. Hiking college teachers' pay in accordance to the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission will make it increase in the the range of Rs 10,400 and Rs 49,800, according to a government statement, in comparison to the existing entry pay put into effect by the 6th Central Pay Commission for the pay of teachers. This revision would register an entry pay growth in the range of 22 per cent to 28 per cent. The measures proposed in the revised pay structure are expected to improve quality of higher education, and also attract and retain talent, the government statement said.

Who will bear additional burden of 7th Pay Commission
For the higher education institutions funded by state governments, the revised pay scales will have to adopted by their respective state governments. The additional financial burden incurred by the state governments in implementing the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission for teachers will be borne by the Central government.
OneIndia News