Unhappy over the new regulations especially the Child Care Leave (CCL) under the seventh pay commission, thousands of teachers and faculty from Delhi University have written a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding to reconsider the guidelines of ‘Child Care Leave’ as it is ‘de-motivating’ the women members across the faculties.
Under the Sixth Pay Commission, the women teachers used to get 100 percent salary for the two year CCL but as per the guidelines of Seventh Pay Commission, 20 percent salary will be deducted for the CCL taken for the second consecutive year.
“During the period of CCL, a female government employee and male Government employee (single parent/ widower/divorcee) shall be paid one hundred percent of the salary for the first three hundred and sixty five days and eighty percent of the salary for the next three hundred and sixty five days,” states the guidelines issued by the government of India under the seventh pay commission.
The protesting teachers further said that that among the entire faculties of DU, around 75 percent of the teachers and employees are women.
“Consequent upon enactment of law by the Government of India, the University Grants Commission (UGC) also provided two years of Child Care Leave to the women teachers of the University/Colleges. Women today are showing their prowess in every field and their presence is also being felt significantly.
“The recent Gazette Notification dated December 14, 2018 providing for CCL in the second year with a drastically reduced salary upto 20 percent shall go a long way in perpetuating the social hiatus on the one hand and defeating the enabling role the women are expected to play in national life in an effective manner. We, therefore, urge upon you to maintain a status quo in matters of Child Care Leave so that the women are not discouraged from participating in the national development,” read the letter submitted by Professor Ashwini Shanker and Pankaj Kumar Garg, also the member of Indian National Teachers Congress (INTEC) on behalf of the teachers.
“This step is going to adversely affect the women employees of universities in particular, where number of women employees is more than 75 pc. Withdrawal of existing facilities by the present Central Government clearly reflects the dictatorial mindset and its attitude towards reducing the grants for employees and also intentions of reducing other facilities in future.
If not opposed tooth and nail and decision is not withdrawn immediately it is going to enhance the hardships of the women employees,” said women teachers.