UGC allows raise in salary of asst profs

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7

The UGC has allowed non-compounded increments to assistant professors, who got enrolled, submitted or awarded PhD before July 11, 2009, and those who got enrolled before July 2010.

The PhD regulations, which came in 2010 and were meant to be effective from 2009, made the course work mandatory while doing the doctorate.

"The UGC vide its letter dated December 7 has informed that the commission in its meeting held on November 14, 2018, approved that the non-compounded advance increments to such PhD degree holders shall be admissible, along with benefit of number of years required for promotion subject to certain conditions. This has been a long-pending demand of the Panjab University Teachers' Association (PUTA) and career of more than 100 teachers had been hanging in fire due to this," said Prof Rajesh Gill, president, PUTA.

She said it was on the initiative of VC Prof Raj Kumar and PUTA that a representation was submitted in person to the Secretary, UGC, by the Finance and Development Officer (FDO) and PUTA representatives in New Delhi.

PUTA executive in its meeting on Friday expressed gratitude towards the UGC, Prof Raj Kumar and Prof AK Bhandari. "This will also bring great respite to a large number of teachers in the colleges also," Prof Gill said.

The PU auditor has been against the disbursal of increments as he has opined that those who have done PhD with course work and who have not done the course work are equivalent, but increments would be given to only those who have done the course work during their doctorate.

But now with new UGC clarification, 106 PU teachers and 137 teachers in Chandigarh colleges are going to be benefitted. Once, college teachers were awarded increments, but later they were issued notices for recovery after the intervention of auditors.

The conditions 

• PhD degree was awarded in a regular mode
• Evaluation of PhD thesis by at least two external examiners
• Open PhD viva voce of the candidate has been conducted
• Candidate has published two research papers from his or her PhD work out of which at least one must be in a refereed journal.
• Candidate has made at least two presentations in conferences or seminars based on his or her PhD work.
• All above conditions are to be verified by Vice-Chancellor or Dean of University Instructions