Increment uncertain for college teachers, no CAS for four years, 31% DA pending , resentment growing

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, June 25, 2022

The mess in financial management created by the incumbent BJP government over the past four and half years has now started coming to the fore with telling effect. According to feedback from government received by the Tripura Rajya Mahavidyalaya Saishik Sangh (TRMSS), ruling party’s front organization among state’s college teachers, the 3% increment given to employees and officers annually in the month of July, may not be available for highly paid college teachers . “We are not sure whether the state government will dare to deny the same to employees and officers in other sectors but we have come to know that the increment in July may not be available to college teachers ; now we can only hope for the better and wait” said a senior functionary of the TRMSS on condition of anonymity.

Apart from this, the college teachers in Tripura have also remained deprived of any benefit under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) whereby the teachers get benefits of promotion at regular intervals of 4/5 years. “No CAS benefit has been given to college teachers over the past four years and as a result a large number of teachers still continue to remain assistant professor even at the age of 55/56 though by this time they should have become at least associate professors ; besides there is a terrible shortage of regularly appointed teachers in colleges across the state and the daily class work is mostly being done by part timers or guest lecturers in lieu of fixed lumpsum payment” said the anonymous TRMSS leader. To worsen matters, the employees , officers and teachers in the state get 31% dearness allowance (DA) less than their central counterparts. After coming to power the BJP government only raised the basic pay of employees without any hike in allowances in the name of giving 7th central pay commission and only 3% DA has been given so far over the past more than four years. This has become a festering wound for the employees, officers and teachers in the state. “May be in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year another installment of DA may be given to entice voters but the gaping deficit will never be neutralized ; actually during the Biplab Deb regime many tall talks made about receipt of funds from Centre but the reality was and continues to be otherwise but the people running the show do not even realize the depth and extent of the crisis they have led the state’s finances into” said a senior employee leader, again on condition of anonymity.