IIT faculty accepts new pay structure

Arguably the most prestigious technological college in India, the Indian Institute of Technology on Saturday has agreed to give data under RTI on the marks obtained by the students appearing in this year’s joint entrance examination.

In an All India IIT Faculty Federation meetingThe big standoff between the IIT faculty and the government finally ended as the teachers of the seven IITs agreed to the new pay structure. "We have requested the faculty to accept the pay package in the interest of the IIT system. But we will pursue with the Ministry of HRD and the board of governors of the IITs on certain issues till they are resolved," Faculty Federation president Prof M Thenmozhi stated.

The issues at hand are a 40 percent cut on the on promotion of professors to senior grade and the provision of contractual appointment at entry level. The IIT faculties have been opposing the new pay structures since the past two months. As per the present pay system, faculty with six years of experience at the level of associate professors will be eligible for the Pay-Band four, which gives a higher pay.

According to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, the government guidelines on the pay structure can be relaxed to promote excellence. "We are not happy that these issues were not taken up by the IIT Council meeting. We expect these issues will be taken up by board of governors of the IITs. If they are not sorted out, we will take them up with the government," he said.

In another issue, the IIT insists on giving the data only in the hard copy of millions of pages instead of in CDs, which is a more comfortable and cost effective way. Rajeev Kumar, the information seeker has a hard time detecting irregularities in the latest JEE; he had the option of easily scanning thorough the electronic data that had been given to him under RTI.