Thiruvananthapuram: The Finance Department under the Kerala government has withdrawn the PhD and MPhil payment increments granted to college teachers during the Seventh Pay Commission period. This means the allowance introduced in 2016 will now be recovered.

The decision affects more than 300 teachers, whose excess payment will be adjusted from their promotion allowance or revised dearness allowance. In effect, they will have to repay the additional amount accumulated over nine years to the state government (till 2025).

In 2016, the government approved extra increments for college teachers who joined with PhD qualifications (five increments) and for those with MPhil degrees (three increments). However, a 2017 directive from the Union Ministry of Education stated that advance increments were not permissible, while the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines issued in 2018 said they were allowed.

The state government had written to the Union government seeking clarification but received no reply. The latest decision is based on UGC instructions and the findings of a committee set up by the state to examine the issue.

Although the increments were issued under the Seventh Pay Commission, they were based on provisions from the Sixth Pay Commission. Each increment had increased the basic salary by around ₹1,000.

Mixed reactions from teachers’ associations

The move has triggered mixed reactions among teachers’ bodies. The pro-Left organisation of college teachers — AKPCTA President A Nisanth and General Secretary K Bijukumar — welcomed the decision, saying the confusion over the earlier increment had caused uncertainty in appointments and promotions. According to them, this will be solved.

They noted that AKPCTA had earlier urged the Finance Minister not to recover the amount, after which it was decided that adjustments would be made through deductions from future income.

Meanwhile, the Congress-backed KPCTA criticised the order, calling it unlawful as the matter is still pending before the court. President Premachandran Keezhot and General Secretary Roney George said the UGC’s counsel had already informed the High Court that there was no contradiction between the 2017 central directive and the 2018 UGC guidelines.