Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: There is good news for the staff of Model College being run by Dr Babsaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) in Jalna, as they receive a salary from the State Government as per the norms of University Grants Commission (UGC).
It may be noted that the Central Government's Ministry of Human Resource Development had launched a scheme in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan to establish one model college in each district where student enrollment was below the national enrollment rate. In the first phase, seven districts of Maharashtra were selected from 90 identified districts across the country. The staff of Jalna Model College is not getting a salary as per the scale.
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Cabinet Approves Pay & Recruitment Benefits for Teachers of 7 Colleges
The Cabinet meeting held Wednesday, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, approved financial provisions to pay UGC-prescribed basic salaries to teachers of seven model colleges in the State, along with granting them additional marks in recruitment by the Higher and Technical Education Department.
The following seven model colleges are currently operational: Ghansawangi in Jalna district (affiliated to Bamu), Buldhana (Sant Gadgebaba Amravati University), Shrivardhan in Raigad (SNDT Women's University, Mumbai), Hingoli (Swami Ramanand Teertha Marathwada University, Nanded), Gadchiroli (Gondwana University), Ambadawe in Ratnagiri and Talere in Sindhudurg (both colleges affiliated to University of Mumbai).
These colleges offer 43 courses with approximately 2,510 students enrolled. Currently, 134 teachers work on an hourly basis and 61 non-teaching staff on consolidated pay. These employees had filed petitions in court seeking permanent regularisation of their services.
Based on the court's ruling on these petitions, the Higher and Technical Education Department proposed paying these teachers the UGC-prescribed basic salary plus dearness allowance for Assistant Professors, along with granting 10 additional marks in departmental recruitment.
Along with this proposal, the Cabinet also approved a policy to appoint one Principal and one honorary professor at each of the seven colleges to ensure experienced faculty. Additionally, approval was granted to provide the state's share of funding, proportionate to student strength growth and excluding the central government's grant, for teachers at these colleges.