I have a post on why I think OCAP is an utterly horrible deal if you have anything to add, please comment there. It's not at all clear who advised him on this one, but he is totally, completely wrong on the merits of this move.
Sibal also waxes eloquent about the new position created by MHRD: on-contract assistant professorship (OCAP). It's a pity that these things had to be spelled out by none other than the minister himself. IITians can also make extra money through consulting. He went further by offering interesting arguments - in a combative tone! If you think the new salaries are too low to attract new faculty, he pointed out that the IITs have attracted tons of people over the last decade when the salaries were about 40 percent lower! And the the attrition rate at the IITs has been "next to nil!". He reiterates his stand (which I think is largely true) that the IIT faculty have actually got a better than anyone else has. In his view, it is a blatant and unfair attempt to take a larger share of the (public sector) resources.
His basic point: The hunger strike is not at all about autonomy, and it's entirely about money. Kapil Sibal comes in at the end, comes on strong, and comes out swinging. And then see how many of them show up for the protests.
#Ramayan 2008 ndtv episode 45 full#
Tell the IIT faculty about the brutal differentials in faculty salaries in the US system, in which the average salary of a full professor in philosophy, sociology or physics could be far smaller than that of an assistant professor in computer science. Then wait and watch how many of them choose to protest against the "indignity inflicted by the government" on October 1, the new ultimatum from the faculty federations.
#Ramayan 2008 ndtv episode 45 free#
Tell the IIT faculty about the possibility of a pay freeze, a pay cut, or, gulp, job loss - the miserable things that accompany the wonders of free markets. Heck, in a recessionary economy, people could lose jobs! Ask all those who got the pink slip from Infosys in the last one year. A severe crunch has forced it to institute faculty furloughs of 4 to 10 percent. In a recessionary economy, it could get worse - there may be a pay cut! I'm sure you can find examples from Indian industry, but here's an example from one of the most respected public university systems in the US - The University of California. The starting salaries of fresh hires has barely budged in the last couple of years! Talk to anyone in the IT industry - including Infosys - about how bad things are. In a recessionary economy, the pay hikes stop for those lucky enough to keep their jobs. But an economy in recession could have devastating consequences. Here's why:Ī market-based pay works wonders when the economy is doing well. He seems oblivious of the kinds of things that can be inflicted when economic conditions turn sour.įrankly, his free-market ideas should scare the wits out of most IIT faculty. Mohandas Pai chants the mantra of free market-based pay scale. To a question about the fat salaries in the US, his answer is wonderfully blunt: Let those who are interested in such salaries stay / go there! About how it is wrong to use private sector criteria to judge public sector salaries - the latter come with job security (and I would have added, many other perks). About how faculty salaries in other countries are roughly in line with public sector salaries. Dinesh Mohan of IIT-D takes a strong anti-strike stand, and scores some excellent points. I also think that the 'autonomy' plank is a fake.
She does a competent job of getting across the views of the protesters ultimately, I found her unconvincing, but that's probably because I don't share those views, and certainly because I think the hunger strike was based on a set of imagined grievances whose financial implications were just an additional 2% hike in salaries. Thenmozhi, who has championed this protest movement at the IITs, is one of the guests. What follows is a bunch of assorted observations, triggered by this show. Watch this NDTV episode which I presume was aired on the day of the historic hunger strike by IIT faculty members (24 September 2009).
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