Teachers from Mumbai University (MU), along with members of the Maharashtra Federation of University College Teachers’ Organisations (MFUCTO), on Monday staged a dharna at Azad Maidan to protest the university’s failure to implement recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.
The MFUCTO is a federation of over 40,000 university and college teachers from several universities in Maharashtra. According to members of the federation, the State government has been trying to whip up anti-teacher sentiment by making teachers appear callous to the concerns of the students.
Around 80 protesting teachers demanded on Monday that the university formulate a proper career advancement scheme (CAS).
“The State government issued a government resolution (GR) on the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, but the university is yet to implement it. It similarly sat on the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, which also affected us severely,” Balaji Kendre, secretary of a joint union of teachers and MFUCTO members, said.
Calling the MU’s action undemocratic and unjust, Mr. Kendre said the Higher and Technical Education Department has withdrawn the incentives proffered to M.Phil and Ph.D professors through a corrigendum dated May 10.
The teachers are recruited through either direct recruitment or through the CAS. Mr. Kendre said when a teacher applies for promotion, they have to go through the CAS, which includes appearing for a round of interviews.
“The earlier GR required applicants to go through refresher and orientation courses, but granted them time till December 31. The corrigendum, however, has suddenly taken away that time period, which means that the applicants have to do so immediately,” he said.
He said even the other practices with respect to the promotion process have their own share of faults.
“After the teachers are promoted, the MU is required to periodically interview them to ensure that they are updated in their knowledge. This, however, is not being done regularly, neither are invigilators sent to check whether this is being done. Even letters of promotion are not received on time,” Mr. Kendre said.