Teachers of government colleges in Manipur on Saturday reminded the state government the January 27 deadline they had set to address their demands.
College teachers are ready to resume the agitations from January 28 if no order adopting 7th University Grants Commission (UGC) Pay and Regulations 2018 is issued on or before January 27, Federation of Government College Teachers’ Associations (FEGOCTA) stated, in a statement on Saturday. The State government’s failure to address the demand will prompt the resumption of the agitation the federation has suspended for a long time from January 28, it added.
The FEGOCTA alleged that the concerned Higher Education department of the state government had failed to issue the order even as five months had passed since the state cabinet agreed to adopt the latest revised pay structure of the UGC. “It is a serious issue and a matter of shame that the national policy of UGC is not honoured by the Manipur government,” the college teacher’s body rued.
The federation stated that UGC policy is not only of pay revision but prescribes qualifications for recruitment, for promotion and activities of teachers in the colleges and universities. “Failure on the part of the state government to adopt the national policy of UGC approved by the Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi three years ago is a clear sign of neglecting the national policy,” it said, adding, “This adamant attitude of the state government shocked the college teachers really. They are demoralized by the government”, the FEGOCTA stated in the statement.
Revised pay structure recommended by the Central 7th Pay Commission had already been adopted to the college teachers in other states of India. The Manipur government had also adopted the latest recommendation of the Central pay commission to employees of the state long ago, leaving behind the college teachers, the statement alleged.
The college teachers were even deprived of complete salary for many years by denying the allowances of SCA and TA, it added. “This is not the sign of having good governance that is committed to bringing quality education in the state”, the FEGOCTA added.
The FEGOCTA has been pressing the state government to implement the 7th University Grants Commission (UGC) Pay and Regulations 2018 for a long time. The state government had also approved the adoption of the latest revised pay structures for the college teachers recommended by the University Grant Commission (UGC) in August 2020. However, orders to this effect were yet to be issued by the state government till date.
Failure on the part of the state government to issue the necessary order to address their demands, FEGOCTA had recently set the January 27 deadline to the state government while threatening to resume their suspended stirs from the next day.
NNN
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