Sibal counters IIT stir with cynicism.KAPIL Sibal Kapil Sibal was born in Jalandhar, Punjab on August 8 1948. He obtained his M.A. in History from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, Delhi and LL.M. from Harvard Law School, USA.He was offered appointment to the Indian Administrative Service, but declined the offer. has refused to bow down Verb 1. bow down - get into a prostrate position, as in submission prostrate lie down, lie - assume a reclining position; "lie down on the bed until you feel better" 2. to pressure from the IIT IIT - Integrated Information Technology faculty threatening to go on a hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or over pay regulation. " We always dream that our IITs will produce nobel laureates. We do not expect our prospective nobel laureates to go on a hunger strike. They should be hungry for knowledge," the human resource development ( HRD HRD Human Resource Development HRD Human Resources Department HRD Hurricane Research Division HRD Hoge Raad Voor Diamant (Diamond High Council, Belgium) HRD hypothetical reference decoder (digital TV) ) minister said. Stating that there had been no attempt to infringe on the autonomy of the IITs, Sibal said they had been more than fairly treated regarding the pay structure and facilities. " The ministry has treated them as they have treated none else. I'm deeply pained by their attitude. After all they are not trade unionists. They are teachers," he said. The minister even alleged that most of the faculty at the IITs earns much more through consultancy than through salary. " We do not interfere in what consultancy etc. the institutes do. Where is the issue of interference in autonomy," he said. Prof. M. Thenmozhi, All India IIT Federation president, said the faculty will go ahead with the hunger strike on Thursday. But he added: " There will be no boycott of classes." the IIT faculty demanding regular appointments at entry level for new recruits, he said, " Nowhere in the world does faculty get regular appointments straightaway straight·a·way adj. 1. Extending in a straight line or course without a curve or turn. 2. Unhesitating; immediate: a straightaway denial. n. ." As for the faculty stressing on maintaining the flexibility of its cadre structure with no caps on appointment, Sibal said, " In the name of flexibility they want no regulation and eligibility criteria. But we have to have eligibility conditions to ensure quality." The ministry has put a cap of 40 per cent of professors in IITs moving to a higher pay grade of Rs 12,000. As for the ministry insisting on 10 per of faculty recruited being assistant professors, it reasoned that this was to encourage more IIT graduates to join as professors. In comparing the IITs to AIIMS AIIMS All-India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (Australasian Fire Authorities Council) , one finds that only 25 per cent of professors move to a higher grade pay while it is only 10 per cent in the case of the UGC See user-generated content. pay scale. For performance- related incentives ( PRIs) Sibal said, " We are open to giving PRIs and the directors have been asked to give in proposals." The institutes' directors, meanwhile, have called for a meeting with the federation members on Friday at IIT Delhi. Copyright 2009 India Today Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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