STANDARD OF MATERIALLIFE
4.01 Standard of Material Life of Teachers In this chapter, we shall examine the standard of material life of teachers and also examine it in comparison with that of other professions.
The following aspects of the question will be reported, largely based on the survey data, but supplemented by other information.
1. Income of teachers-gross salary and other related matters.
2. Retirement benefits-provident fund, pension, etc.
3. Facilities-housing, medical, children's education, conveyance, etc.
4. Stock of possessions--consumer durable items like car, scooter, TV, video, telephone, etc.
5. Service conditions--leave travel facilities, opportunity for professional development and retirement age, etc.
6. Working conditions-related to self-study, laboratory, library, telephone and research facilities.
4.02 Gross Salary of Teachers
4.02.01 Colleges Distribution of teachers according to gross salary (i.e., basic salary and allowances) reveals that the majority (62 per cent) of college teachers had a gross salary of less than Rs. 2000 per month. In this group 21 per cent accounted for Rs. 1000-Rs. 1500 per month and 3 per cent for less than Rs. 1000 per month. One-fourth of the teachers had a gross salary between Rs. 2000 and Rs. 2500 per month. Those who had gross salary between Rs. 2500 and Rs. 3500 accounted for only 7 per cent. The proportion of teachers earning less than Rs. 1000 per month was higher in private unaided colleges. For other types of colleges, figures ranged between 1 and 3 per cent only.
4.02.02 Universities Income distribution of teachers in universities was slightly better than that among college teachers. About 40 per cent university teachers earned less than Rs. '2000 per month. (In this group nearly 9 per cent had gross salary between Rs. 1000 and Rs. 1500 and one per cent less than Rs. 1000 per month.) Another one-third earned between Rs. 2000 and Rs. 2500, and nearly one-fourth earned between Rs. 2500 and Rs. 3500 per month. For details please see table 1.
TABLE 1
Distribution of sample teachers by gross salary income groups,
Colleges and Universities
Income Groups (in Rs.)
LE*500 501- 1001- 1501- 2001- 2501- NORSP Total
1000 1500 2000 2500 3500
COLLEGE
By Cadre
Lecturer 0.35 2.31 24.79 40.37 24.08 02.85 04.73 5130
Reader 0.00 0.62 07.12 18.89 41.18 28.48 03.10 321
Prof./
Principal 0.32 0.81 01.79 28.33 36.79 27.19 04.56 614
Total 0.60 2.76 21.31 37.50 25.80 06.60 04.76 6264
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LE*500 501- 1001- 1501- 2001- 2501- NORSP Total
1000 1500 2002 2500 3500
By Type of college
Govt. 0.16 1.38 20.11 35.96 29.95 08.51 3.30 1868
Pvt. Aided 0.93 3.00 22.02 39.89 39.89 04.30 05.31 5750
Pvt.Unaided 0.00 15.14 23.85 22.94 18.35 10.55 09.17 218
Constituent 0.00 0.35 15.63 22.22 34.03 20.83 04.86 282
Total 0.60 2.76 21.31 37.50 25.83 06.60 04.76 6266
UNIVERSITY
By Cadre
Lecturer 0.44 0.44 14.90 47.47 30.32 02.87 03.14 1142
Reader 0.49 0.00 00.37 12.62 57.25 34.79 03.40 612
Prof./
Principal 0.30 0.30 00.60 04.81 12.95 78.61 02.40 322
Total 0.42 0.51 08.72 30.18 32.51 23.93 03.17 2132
4.03 Years of Experience and Income Level of Teachers Further data regarding years of experience of teachers and their gross salary income reveal that :
Almost all (85-95 per cent) teachers in colleges with teaching experience upto 10 years earn less than Rs. 2000 per month. More than half the college teachers with 15 years experience also fall in this income group.
Among university teachers, almost all (86 per cent) teachers with upto 5 years experience and more than half (53 per cent) with 10 years experience earn less than Rs. 2000 per month. (For details see table 2).
4.04 Years of-Experience and Income Level of Other Services Tables 3, 4 & 5 reveal that in contrast to teachers, the income of persons serving in Indian Administrative Services, Indian Forest Service and Indian Police Service is generally much higher. Also, with the increase, in experience their income level rises far more sharply. Gross salary of IAS personnel ranges between Rs. 2000 and Rs. 6000 per month. A very small proportion, say 15-24 per cent, are in the lowest income group, i.e. Rs. 2000-2800, whereas the proportion of teachers earning even below Rs. 2000 was 66 per cent in colleges and 42 per cent in universities. It is also obvious that not a single person in the IAS, IFS and IPS with 20-25 years of experience was in the lowest income group, and that their gross salary level increased with the increase, in their experience, whereas nearly 38 per cent of college teachers and 15 per cent of university teachers continued to be in the lowest gross salary group in spite of more than 20 years of experience. This indicates considerable stagnation among teachers.
TABLE 2
Distribution of Sample Teachers by gross salary income groups and
years of Experience groups Universities and Colleges
Income Groups (Rs. per month)
Years of Experience LE-2000 2000- 2500- Total
2500 3500 Nos.
Colleges
1- 5 95.00 4.36 1.24 1443
6-10 85.39 18.39 2.73 1172
11-15 56.56 36.82 6.61 1195
16-20 42.08 47.02 3.36 891
21-25 23.42 54.97 21.36 422
26-30 14.79 52.07 33.13 169
Total 66.37 27.05 6.59 5885
Universities
1- 5 85.81 12.05 2.12 423
6-10 53.29 14.37 5.32 394
11-15 29.24 49.02 21.72 359
16-20 19.03 41.17 37.79 289
21-25 8.86 34.79 56.54 237
26-30 6.97 21.70 71.31 129
Total 42. 51 33.95 23.52 1985
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TABLE 3
Distribution of 279 IAS* Personnel in AP by years of experience and
gross salary income groups
(Figures in percentage)
Gross Salary Income Groups (Rs.per month) Total
Years of Experience- Nos
2200-2800 2850-3100 3200-3550 3600-4800 4850-5500 5500-6000
1- 5. 66.66 17.46 27.71 12.70 -- 1.59 63
6-10. 2.50 53.75 42.50 -- 1.25 -- 80
11-15. -- 17.50 55.00 25.00 2.50 -- 40
16-20. -- -- 2.63 5.26 92.10 -- 38
21-25. -- -- 4.54 4.54 90.90 -- 22
26-30. -- -- -- -- 92.86 7.14 28
31-35. -- -- -- -- 25.00 75.00 8
Total No. 44 61 66 14 85 9 279
% 15.77 21.86 23.66 5.02 30.46 3.22 100.00
* Indian Administrative Services Source Government of India, Civil list, 1984
TABLE 4
Distribution of 104 IPS* Personnel in AP by years of experience and
gross salary income groups
(Figures in percentage)
Gross Salary Income Groups (Rs.per month) Total
Years of Experience- Nos
2200-2800 2800-3100 3200-3550 3600-4800 4850-5500 5500-6000
1- 5. 88.23 11.76 -- -- -- -- 17
6-10. 40.90 45.45 13.64 -- -- -- 22
11-15. 8.33 91.67 -- -- -- -- 12
16-20. -- -- 73.68 26.31 -- -- 19
21-25. -- -- -- 80.95 19.05 -- 21
26-30. -- -- -- 66.66 33.33 -- 9
31-35. -- -- -- -- 75.00 25.00 4
Total No. 25 23 17 28 10 1 104
% 24.03 22.11 16.35 26.92 9.62 0.96 100.00
* Indian Police Service Source : Government (if India, Civil List, 1984
TABLE - 5
Distribution of 70 IFS* Personnel in AP by years of experience and
gross salary income groups
(Figures in Percentage)
Gross Salary Income Groups (Rs.per month) Total
Years of Experience- Nos
2200-2800 2800-3100 3200-3550 3600-3800 4850-5500 5500-6000
1- 5. 40.74 59.26 -- -- -- -- 27
6-10. -- 50.00 50.00 -- -- -- 2
11-15. -- -- 100.00 -- -- -- 18
16-20. -- -- 64.70 35.29 -- -- 17
21-25. -- -- -- 80.00 20.00 -- 5
26-30. -- -- -- -- 100.00 -- 1
31-35. -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total No. 11 17 30 10 2 74
% 15.71 24.28 42.86 14.28 2.86 --100.00
* Indian Forest Service Source Government of India, Civil List, 1984
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4.05 Factors Responsible for low Income Level and Stagnation There are several factors responsible for the relatively low income level of teachers and almost negligible increase in income with increase in the number of years of experience in the teaching profession. Important among these factors are :
(a) Cadre structure
(b) Built-in stagnation in the pay scales
(c) Non-implementation of pay scales.
4.05.01 Cadre Structure The cadre structure of the teaching profession is pyramidal, where a large number of positions are of Lecturers, a few of Readers and very few positions of Professors. In IAS, IPS and IFS, the cadre structure is an inverse pyramid. There are more positions in the senior scales and fewer positions in the junior scale. Out of 3023 IAS personnel (as shown in the Civil List, 1984) 87 per cent are in the senior scales and only 13 per cent in the junior scales. The ratio works out to be 6 positions in senior scale for one position in junior scale. In contrast to this, in colleges, the ratio is 8 : 1, i.e., 8 positions for lecturers for one position of a senior teacher. Similarly, in the universities the ratio for the cadre works out as 6 : 2 : 1, i.e. 6 positions of lecturers for 2 positions of readers and one position of professor. Because of this cadre structure, most of the persons in the teaching profession stagnate for long periods and remain at the same income level.
4.05.02 Built in Stagnation in Pay Scales The time-span of pay scales of persons in the teaching profession is follows :
Position Pay scale (1974/83) Time
Span*
(in years)
1. Lecturer Rs. 700-40-1000-50-1600 19
2. Reader Rs. 1200-50-1300-60-1900 12
3. Professor/ Rs. 1500-60-1800-100-2000-125 15
Principal (Biannual)-2500
*To reach maximum point of the scale
(i) Under the above schemes of pay scales, if one joins the profession as a Lecturer at the age of 25, lie would reach the maximum of the scale in 19 years and beyond this he would not get any increment. As the working span is generally 35 years, such a person would not have any increment for the remaining 16 years of his career.
(ii) Similarly, if a person joins the cadre of a Reader after 8 years of experience as Lecturer, say at the age of 33, lie would stop getting any increment after reaching the age of 45. Thus be or she would remain at the same level for the remaining 15 years of the working span. Partly this also holds true for the cadre of Professor. If one joins as a Professor after 15 years of experience at the age of 40, he would not earn any increment for his contribution to the, profession during the last 5 years of his service.
(iii) Thus, after a certain point of time in the working span of every cadre in the teaching profession, a person stagnates. The period of stagnation is higher in the case of lecturers. As the system of higher education is pyramidal with more positions of lecturers and fewer positions of Readers and still fewer positions of Professors, a large number of persons, whether academically good, medicore or indifferent, stagnate for a good proportion of their working span.
A comparison of pay scales of teachers in higher education and persons employed in Indian Administrative Services, financial administration Eke banks and LIC, indicates that although scales of pay for a new entrant in these professions are the same, the pay scale for the higher cadre in teaching profession is lower as compared to that of persons in IAS, LIC and banks. This is clear from the following table.
TABLE 6
Pay scale of persons in different professions
Rank IAS IPS IFS LIC Banking Teaching
Pay Scale
1. 700-1300 700-1300 700-1300 700-1300 700-1800 700-1600
2. 1200-2000 1200-1700 1200-2000 1000-1675 1200-2000 1200-1900
3. 2000-2200 2000-2200 2000-3000 1250-2000 1800-2250 1500-2500
4. 2500-3500 2500-2700 3000 1600-2250 2000-2400 --
(Flexible)
5. 3500 3000(fixed) -- 2000-2500 2500-3000 --
6. -- -- -- 2500-3000 3000-3250 --
7. -- -- -- 3250(fixed)3250-3500 --
8. -- -- -- -- 3500(fixed) --
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4.05.03 Non-implementation of revised pay scales The study also revealed that revised scales (1973) have not been implemented in all the institutions in all the cases.
(a) Nearly 8 per cent of the teachers were not paid according to the standard scales of pay. The proportion of Lecturers receiving less than Rs. 700--1600, Rs. 700- 1300 and Rs. 700-1 100 was 4, 3 and 1 per cent respectively. The proportion of Lecturers receiving less than the standard pay was high (16 per cent) in colleges located in small towns. Similarly, 13 per cent of the Lecturers in private unaided colleges were given less than the standard pay scales.
(b) Among the States, in Kerala nearly onethird (33 per cent) of the college Lecturers were paid less than the standard pay scales. In Bibar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh between 11 and 12 per cent of the Lecturers were paid less than the standard pay scales.
(c) The proportion of Readers and Principals of colleges receiving less than the standard pay scales was much less; it ranged between, 2 and 4 per cent.
(d) The proportion of teachers receiving less than the standard pay scales was, relatively, much less in the universities. The proportion of Lecturers, Readers and Professors who were paid less than standard pay scales was around 1-2 per cent only. From the above, it is clear that the magnitude of the problem seems to be centering upon private unaided colleges and in colleges of Kerala, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
(e) This could be due to several factors, namely, creation of ad hoc posts, appointment of under qualified staff, delay in approval of posts by the state government, etc. But it needs to be corrected as it adversely affects the motivation of teachers and hence the quality of the teaching-learning process in higher education.
4.06 Erosion in real value of pay scales and gross salary incomes
Though, inflation has hit hard all the persons in fixed income groups, those who have been in the lower income groups and have not been provided with housing facilities, are hit harder. Inflation may adversely affect the savings and consumption of luxurious items of persons in higher income groups, but for those who are in the low income groups, the ability to secure the basic necessities of life is adversely affected. This is more so because a major part of the salary goes towards house rent. Figures on the erosion in real value of income indicate that real value of basic salaries of teachers has been reduced by Rs. 100-400 over a period of a decade, i.e., what they used to get in the year 1973-74. Similarly gross salary of teachers which includes dearness. additional dearness, city compensatory as well as house rent allowances has been reduced by Rs. 300-800 in general, and that in the case of professors by Rs. 1000. This is evident from the following tables :
TABLE 7
Real value as in 1983--84
(Base 1973-74)
Pay scale as of Real value of pay Scales of pay
1973-74 scales at constant prior to revis-
prices ion of scales in
1973
Min. Max. Min. Max.
1. Lecturer Rs. 700-1600 Rs. 327 748 Rs. 400 900
2. Reader/
Principal Rs. 1200-1900 Rs. 561 887 Rs. 700 1250
3. Professor/
Principal Rs. 1500-2500 Rs. 701 1168 Rs.1150 1500