Mumbai: Engineering college directed to release pending salary after professors' online protest

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The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has issued an order to the administration of the Smt Indira Gandhi College of Engineering in Navi Mumbai to immediately release the pending salaries of their staff. The order comes after mid-day's report on the professors' innovative protest on April 3, ‘If lectures can be held online, so can the protest'. The regulatory body took cognisance of the 34-day long online protest by the professors who had not received their salaries for over 19 months.

The case of this Navi Mumbai college threw light on the poor conditions of professors, as they struggle to continue the online academic year. Professors had gathered online for a protest after they were denied permission to hold it on the college premises.

"You are hereby advised to settle the issue immediately and make payment of salaries at the earliest, otherwise AICTE will be forced to take action against the institution as per approval process handbook. You are further advised to send the compliance in this regard at the earliest but not later than May 15. The matter may be treated as most urgent," (SIC) states the AICTE order dated May 3.

"It is really unfortunate that the state body - the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) - and Mumbai University to which the college is affiliated, are keeping mum on the issue," said Vaibhav Narawade, president of Mumbai University College Teachers' Association (MUCTA), which has been raising its voice for unpaid teachers. While the order brought some hope for the professors, until the administration complies, they said they won't feel relieved. "Our online protest continues even today as the college has yet not issued salaries. AICTE for the first time, has taken a strict stand with a deadline, so we are hopeful of resolving the issue," said Professor Govind Waghmare from the college.