The government-run Tata Institute of Fundamental research was recently in the news due to the crunch in the salaries of staffers and scholars. This issue invited the attention of people across the country, including the media. The reason that was cited for the halved salaries of employees was a lack of funds. It created a fuss in the academic community. The staffers and working employees in the institute became worried and asked for the reimbursement of their final pay.
In a letter to the staff, TIFR registrar, Wing Commander (retd.) George Antony, said, “Due to insufficient funds, staff members and students and postdoctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50 per cent of the net salary for the month of February immediately. The remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available,” the letter said, adding that deductions would be calculated on full salary as per rules.
After the news spread about one of the country’s most premier institutes facing fund shortage, the authorities immediately deposited the remaining amounts of their salaries in their respective bank accounts.
“The complete salary of all the employees of TIFR has been credited to their respective bank accounts. The issue has been solved now,” Antony told PTI on March 7.
A former staffer, as quoted by Indian Express, said that the pay-cut decision had impacted around 3,000 employees, students and post-doctoral fellows of TIFR in Mumbai and other centres.
TIFR is a national institution of the Government of India under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy and is also a deemed university since 2002. This institute was founded in 1945, with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha.
On this issue, the noted historian Ramachandra Guha, tweeted labelling it a perilous financial state. He also criticized the Modi government for being ‘anti-intellectual.’
No Government since Independence has been so anti-science, so anti-intellectual, as the Modi Government. Even the Vajpayee regime, with some Ministers with pedigreed PhDs and others with a deep respect for knowledge, was far less hostile to research and scholarship than this one.
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) March 8, 2019
But the question of the extent of this problem of fund shortage in higher education still stands unresolved.
Earlier this year, the research scholars across the country protested against the ‘insufficient’ stipend hike. The disappointed scholars took to the streets and some were even arrested in New Delhi.
The issue of funds and scholarships is an issue that is important to be addressed by the government and the higher education department. If this continues to be the scenario, then the glaring doubt about the future of our country’s higher education will remain.