Hike professors’ wages at your own cost: Govt to IITs

The government on Thursday allowed Indian Institutes
of Technology (IIT) to hire staff at jacked up salaries to attract the best professors or top up salaries of the existing faculty. However, the IITs will have to pay them from their own pockets.

Human resources development minister (HRD) Kapil Sibal discussed staff shortage at IITs with directors of eight new institutes on Thursday.  It was decided that the IITs can pay more than the government-approved salary to the faculty from their own funds.    

The government may also rework its higher administrative grade (Hag), a special scale of Rs67,000-79,000 for outstanding IIT professors, who will be treated on par with additional secretaries to the central government. At present, in the IITs, Hag is applicable to 40% of professors.

The new institutes expressed their inability to implement Hag since they haven’t been able to hire the required number of professors. In some departments, there are only two professors.

The IITs want the clause reworked.

The HRD ministry said it would seek approval from the cabinet and finance ministry for such a provision.