Diwali gift for university teachers: Centre okays pay hike

New Delhi: The Union government on Wednesday decided to implement the 7th Pay Commission benefits for teachers of central, state universities and aided colleges, giving a Diwali gift to the academic community.

“Assistant and associate professors of 329 state universities and 12,912 colleges will get the benefit of the 7th Pay Commission from January 1, 2016. Teachers of all centrally funded deemed universities and 43 central universities will be benefited,” Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar told a press conference, following a meeting of the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This amounts to an increase of around 22-28 per cent,” he added.

Official sources said the decision would benefit 7.58 lakh university teachers. The raise will be between Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 at different levels. The annual additional financial burden on the Centre will be an estimated Rs 30,748 crore, sources added.