UoM revises pay of Dalit officers promoted in 2021
CHENNAI: The syndicate of the University of Madras last week set right an alleged discrimination meted out to 19 Dalit assistant registrars (AR) of the institution by sanctioning enhanced pay, which was due to them after their promotion three years back.
University sources said the revised pay for the ARs would reflect in their August salaries, along with arrears.
This was after the officers wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor convener committee and syndicate members stating that the university was discriminating against Dalit officers, while those from other communities were receiving salaries according to their pay scale.
In 2021, these Dalit officers were promoted as ARs after the University won a prolonged legal battle in the Madras High Court which ruled that section officers with open university degrees were ineligible for the post.
However, despite promotion, the university did not revise their pay scale, while their roles and responsibilities were the same as that of 12 other ARs.
The university cited pending writ appeals and petitions in the high court to deny the revised pay scale. These were eventually dismissed by the court in March 2024.
“Even after this, the pay was not revised, despite a favourable opinion given by the university’s legal advisor in our favour,” one of the affected officers said, quoting the letter.
He added that their monthly salaries were lesser by around `8,000 for around three years.
The letter directly accused the administration of caste discrimination and announced a token protest on July 31, when the syndicate met.
The officers also planned to stage a protest demonstartion in front of the University’s main building to bring the issue to the chief minister’s notice.
They called off the protest after a few syndicate members assured them and later took up the issue in the meeting.
“This was discussed in the meeting and the university has decided to fix the revised pay for these Dalit officers. Along with this, the pay anomalies of 23 other section officers were also addressed,” a syndicate member seeking anonymity said.
University sources said that immediately after the meeting, the registrar sent out official communications to the assistant registrars announcing their revised pay.