Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor recently lashed out at the Kerala government for apparently not implementing the recent pay commission salary revision. According to a list of documents that was shared with him by a college professor in the state, an Assistant Professor is paid lesser than a sweeper.
"While we all applaud that sweepers are paid well, studying long and hard for the higher degrees required by an Assistant Professor earns her a lower salary!" Tharoor wrote on Facebook. According to the photograph of a document that he had posted, the pay scale of an Assistant Professor, which is paid by the UGC is between Rs 15,600 and Rs 39,100 per month. At the same time, the pay scale for a sweeper lies between Rs 16,500 and Rs 35,700. The pay scale is the same for a night watchman, a sanitation worker, an office attendant and a cook — all of whom are paid by the state government. At the same time, an attender is paid more than an Assistant Professor.
The reason for the same, stated by Tharoor, is Kerala not implementing the UGC's seventh pay commission salary revision. According to the new revision, an Assistant Professor is eligible for a starting salary of Rs 57,700. "It is striking that this is mainly because Kerala's Left Government does not give teachers UGC rates. It is reputedly the only state government that has not honoured the Centre's recommendation to grant UGC rates of pay," he wrote. Calls made to the Director of Collegiate Education, Government of Kerala, seeking a comment on this were not answered.
This copy will be updated when they respond.
