7th Pay Commission: Good news for teachers, relief for CG employees as Jaitley is back

Even as Central Government employees await good news on the 7th Pay Commission, there is some good news for this sector. The retirement age of the teachers of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) in Jammu and Kashmir has been enhanced.

Recently the Madhya Pradesh government had made a similar announcement. Sources now say that CG employees too may get this benefit. Sources also say that things regarding the issue had come to a standstill as Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley was unwell.

However, during the weekend he took oath after being elected to the Rajya Sabha. This is an indicator that things would get moving a decision on the basic minimum pay hike and the retirement age would be taken soon. Sources say that all is not lost and the matter is not in the cold storage.

Meanwhile, there was good news for SMCDU teachers after the retirement age was enhanced to 65. The authorities also approved a grant of the 7th pay commission scales for them, an official spokesperson said.

The decision to this effect was taken at the executive council of the SMVDU, which met under the chairmanship of its chancellor and state Governor N N Vohra yesterday.

To attract well-known teachers to serve the university, the council also decided to grant children education allowance and performance linked awards to the faculty.

Spread over 470-acres, the varsity is located near the famous Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district and was ranked 94th by National Institutional Ranking Framework (Ministry of Human Resources Development) for the year 2018.

The spokesperson said the council congratulated Vice-Chancellor Prof Sanjeev Jain for attaining the 94th rank among all the engineering institutions and for retaining its position among the top 150 universities in the country in the ranking assessment.

The council appreciated various eco-friendly initiatives undertaken by the university to develop it as a green campus and becoming the first academic campus in the state to have a 900 Kilo Watt Solar Power Plant.

On being apprised about the functioning of the SMVDU Technology Business Incubation Centre (TBIC) established in the university for encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship among the people of the state, the chancellor observed that students from other states should be invited to join the TBIC.