Mangaluru (The Hindu): The Association of Mangalore University College Teachers (AMUCT) on Saturday urged T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Higher Education and Law and Parliamentary Affairs, to bring the salary payment of teachers in private colleges under a legal framework.

It is to ensure that the teachers in unaided colleges and aided colleges get a decent minimum salary.

Speaking at the annual academic convention of the AMUCT, its president Norbert Lobo said many teachers, whose salary is being paid by the managements, still drew Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 11,000 a month. “It is pathetic. Guest teachers in government colleges are getting more than this,” Mr. Lobo said. He said the State government should bring in a law to ensure decent salary for teachers who were not getting it as per the University Grants Commission pay scale.

The association urged the State to recruit teachers for aided private colleges. The government had not recruited teachers for such colleges for more than a decade. Many colleges did not have regular principals and the government should appoint them, Mr. Lobo said.

Without responding to the demand, Mr. Jayachandra said there were budgetary constraints and the government would have to fulfil the demands of teachers after assessing it.

The Minister said the universities should generate their own revenue by having a tie-up with private sector and should stop asking funds from the government. He said he was not promising the teachers anything.

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