Govt to spend Rs 9,000 cr annually for revised pay to teachers

NEW DELHI: The government will have to provide for a whopping Rs 9,000 crore annually from the exchequer for paying revised salary and allowances
to over five lakh university and college teachers. The revised salary package, announced yesterday, offers hefty hikes effective from January 1, 2006.

"As per the calculation we have done, about Rs 9,000 crore will be spent annually for implementing the revised pay of university and college teachers in the country," Higher Education Secretary R P Agrawal told PTI today.

He said the Finance Ministry will make the budgetary provision soon for the purpose.

As per the announcement, financial assistance will be provided by the Centre to the states which may opt for these revised pay scales, to the extent of 80 per cent of the additional expenditure for implementing the revised pay scales for the duration from January 1, 2006 to March, 31, 2010.

The Rs 9,000 crore include the assistance to be given by the Centre to the states till 2010 March, he said. After 2010 March, the Centre will stop providing assistance to the state governments for this purpose.

The UGC-appointed Prof G K Chadha committee had recommended the raising of the retirement age for university and college teachers to 65 years. Agrawal said that the retirement age has been made 65 years in the central universities.

"As far as the state universities are concerned, we have asked the states to raise the retirement age to 65 years. But we cannot force them," he said.

Source : ET