IIT Bombay, Roorkee faculty go on mass leave

New Delhi, Aug 24: Protesting the disparities in pay, faculty members of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Roorkee are going on a mass casual leave and IIT Delhi faculty is expected to follow the suit.

"The pay hike given by the government is at least 30 per cent less at the lower level (of faculties) and at higher level it is 40 per cent less than what we had asked for. It will be difficult for us to attract good faculty members," Saumya Mukherjee, professor at IIT-Bombay was quoted as saying in a news report.

The professors of IIT Bombay who held placards and walked out of the campus pointed out that to become the professor of an IIT, one has to have a PhD which entails loss of income. The government is not even giving any scholastic pay, said another professor of IIT Bombay.

"There is some dissatisfaction over the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for our pay hike. I returned from abroad Monday morning and will discuss the issue with the faculty members," IIT-Roorkee director S C Saxena was quoted as saying.

While the IIT Delhi faculty is expected to take the same step starting from Tuesday, Aug 25, the Chennai wing decided to let the individual organisations of faculty members to protest the way they choose.

OneIndia News