Colleges learn the art of cheating

Quite a few educational institutions pay sixth pay panel scale to teachers only on paper

Mitali Patel, an MBA degree holder and a lecturer for four years recently appeared for an interview at a Gujarat-based management institute. Though she was offered the job, Patel walked out of the interview.

Patel was told that she would be paid as per the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, but that would only be on paper. In practice, she would receive salary according to the Fifth Pay Commission scale. “It's disgusting, to say the least,” she says.

Narayani Chandran, however, is planning to do more than just staging a walk-out. She is exploring a legal option against her institute. After teaching management students for over eight years and deserving a pay scale of Rs 45,000 a month, Chandran is drawing only Rs 30,000 per month.

“Our management makes us sign papers which say we are getting paid as per the Sixth Pay Commission. But in reality, we are receiving the Fifth Pay Commission pay scales. The money is pocketed by the institute’s management,” says Chandran.

It’s not only business schools. If colleges of all shapes and sizes in the country are united in one thing, it’s this: Downright cheating of their faculty members.

Many of these colleges are managed by charitable trusts and run group of institutions ranging from medical colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnics, hotel management & catering technology; MCA and MBA programmes in the country. But none of them adhere to the Sixth Pay Commission pay scales, say the faculty members.

A few of these colleges have also been awarded accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), a body of All India Council for Technical Education, country's technical education regulator. The colleges also seek grant from AICTE under various schemes.

A few of them even flaunt accreditation from reputed companies on their institute’s website.

Professor Javaid Akhter, Dean Faculty of Management at the Aligarh Muslim University gives some numbers. “Out of over 100 institutes, not more than five institutes pay full salaries,” says Akhter who has been a part of accreditation process of universities by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to accredit universities and university colleges.

“I have noticed that as it is not mandatory to submit Form 16 of all employees, giving institutes a free hand,” adds Akhter.

The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission were to be introduced with effect from the year 2006. The guidelines came in various stages up to the year 2008 and 2009.

“As the issue is a sensitive one, no one wants to speak on record. But our discussions with various teaching as well as non-teaching staff reveal that barring government-aided institutes, not more than 10 to 15 per cent institutions have actually implemented the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. The remaining 15 per cent have implemented it partially,” says Professor A K Sengupta, founder and convener of Higher Education Forum, a body of higher education professionals in India.

Professors of some institutes say one of the main reasons for not implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations is that an overwhelming majority of trustees are interested in high return on investments and do not want to pay more to faculty members. The increase in salary is more than two times and the managements are not sure whether the students would pay for the same. Many institutes fear that if they raise the fee too often, seats will go vacant.

As per the sixth pay commission, a lecturer or assistant professor with two years teaching experience is eligible to draw Rs 30,000 per month against Rs 20,000 per month as mandated in the fifth pay commission. A Reader or an Associate Professor is entitled to Rs 45,000 per month, against Rs 30,000 per month as per the Fifth Pay Commission and a Professor should get Rs 80,000 and above, against Rs 65,000. For directors the salary is Rs 1,20,000, as there are administrative issues that they would have to deal with.

Academics says the regulators, including University Grants Commission, AICTE and Medical Council of India have been insisting on payment to the teachers in terms of the sixth pay commission, but none, despite knowing the anomalies, has turned a blind eye. An AICTE official when contacted, said he was not aware of any such thing.

“Many institutes pay sixth pay salaries on 'paper' and take back the much needed cash from teachers to match their salaries to fifth pay scale or Rs 10,000 to 12,000 per month at par with clerks and administration staff who hold many a times much lesser qualifications,” says Rajesh Khajuria, Director and governing board member – Shri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya’s C K Shah Vijapurwala Institute of Management.

The institutes in question do so, explains Khajuria, to charge a higher fee from students. So that when they make a presentation to the respective state fee regulatory committee, they can show an increased cost and seek the committee's permission to further hike their fee structure.

A fee regulatory committee member from Gujarat who spoke to Business Standard on the condition of anonymity, said the committee is aware of this practice by the institutes and universities but in the absence of any proof, cannot take action against these institutions.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of an education consulting firm, many engineering colleges and B-schools still pay a consolidated salary between Rs 10,000 and 15,000 to their faculty members to teach in B.Tech or MBA.

“These institutions often gobble up the tax deducted at source, professional tax, employee provident fund of the faculty members when they leave,” he adds.