UGC clarifies on issue of seniority of professors

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 18

In a reply to the Punjab Government’s clarification regarding the seniority of professors, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said, “Professors are considered senior to associate professors and associate professors are senior to assistant professor under the teaching cadres.”

In a letter written to the UGC, the state government had sought clarification whether “Professors are or are not required to be considered senior to associate professors and associate professors senior to assistant professors for all intents and purposes, including the issues related to the promotions to the post of principals of government colleges.”

Professors in government colleges in the state have been objecting to the proposed promotion of principals in government colleges on the basis of the old criteria of Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) held by the state government earlier to promote principals on the basis of lecturer’s seniority.

They say that candidates whose names figure in the list of DPC don’t even fulfil the minimum qualification for the post of principals, as prescribed by the UGC regulations 2010.

“Many candidates in the list are even junior to the professors promoted under the Career Advancement Scheme of the University Grants Commission,” said Dr Ashwini Bhalla, general secretary, Punjab Government College Professors Association (PGCPA).

Dr Bikram Singh Virk, Ludhiana president of the PGCPA, and Dr Bhalla, said as per the UGC regulations 2010 and the Punjab Government’s own notification of pay scales for college and university teachers, there were three cadres of posts in the colleges, including professors, associate professors and assistant professors.

“The lecturer cadre in the colleges, on the basis of which DPC was held, does not even exist,” they said.

The DPC, which was held in the Department of Higher Education, Government of Punjab, cleared the names of persons for appointment of principals, many of whom don’t have a PhD degree and don’t even qualify for the minimum qualifications and standards of Academic Performance Index, said Dr Bhalla.

PGCPA demands that due seniority and status should be accorded to the professors promoted under Career Advancement Scheme, Dr Bhalla said.