Pay hike on cards as govt clears Pay Commission award for 758,000 teachers

Govt has also announced two new skill schemes; wants to send 300,000 youth for training in Japan

The central government cleared the pay commission recommendation for revision in salaries for teachers and academic staff.

There is some good news for as many as 758,000 teachers and other academic staff at 106 institutions under the Union government and 329 universities funded by various state governments. The central government has cleared the 7^th Pay Commission recommendation to revise their salaries. The revised pay will be implemented with effect from January 1, 2016.

Teachers in 119 centrally funded institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will also benefit.

"The annual Central financial liability on account of this measure would be about Rs 9,800 crore. The implementation will enhance teachers' pay in the range of Rs 10,400 and Rs. 49,800 as against the extant entry pay...(higher by) 22 per cent to 28 per cent," said the ministry of human resource development.

Adding: "For state government-funded institutions, the revised pay scales will require adoption by the respective governments. The Union government will bear the additional burden of the states on account of this revision."

Dharmandra Pradhan, the Union minister for skill development and entrepreneurship, also told journalists the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved two new schemes -- Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) for Rs 4,455 crore and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) for Rs 2,200 crore. These will be partially funded through a World Bank loan.

"SANKALP envisages setting up of trainers & assessors academies with self-sustainable models. Fifty-plus academies to be set up in priority sectors. STRIVE shall incentivise ITIs (industrial training institutes) to improve overall performance, including apprenticeship, by involving SMEs (smalll and medium enterprises), business associations and industry clusters," Pradhan, who recently replaced Rajiv Pratap Rudy as skill development minister, said in a tweet.

The Skill Mission under the ministry has come under criticism for not achieving its target of skilling youth and finding jobs for them. Pradhan said the government was going to sign a pact with the government of Japan on a Technical Intern Training Program. This, he said was "an ambitious program to send 300,000 technical interns to Japan for on-the-job training, for three to five years...selected through a transparent manner." The funding amount wasn't stated.