Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Dec 16: Even as chief minister recently advised newlyweds at a mass marriage ceremony in Navalgund, Dharwad, to limit their families to one or two children in the interest of population control, benefits extended to higher education department employees who have already followed this advice have been curtailed.

In the higher education department, it has been the practice to extend special benefits to government employees who undergo sterilisation procedures such as vasectomy or tubectomy. Those who opted for such family planning measures were entitled to a three per cent small family incentive allowance or special pay increment. However, this benefit has been withheld for the past nine years.

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Among higher education employees are those drawing UGC pay scales. Until 2015, this special benefit was extended to all eligible staff. As a result, several male and female employees underwent sterilisation surgeries and regularly received the small family incentive allowance or special pay increment.

Department in confusion

Officials of the higher education department, who had been granting this benefit regularly until 2015, reportedly became uncertain in 2016. Seeking clarity on how the benefit should be implemented for eligible lecturers working under the department, the office of the commissioner of collegiate education in Bengaluru wrote to principals of first grade colleges across the state, seeking details and suggestions.

The department sought government guidance on whether the benefit should be implemented as per the prevailing UGC regulations, or at the rates applicable to central government employees, or by continuing the earlier practice followed in the department. In 2022, officials again wrote to principals of first grade colleges across the state, seeking information, and also instructed staff to submit representations and affidavits in this regard.

No decision even after nine years

The Karnataka state government college lecturers’ association has repeatedly urged the government to restore the small family incentive allowance or special pay increment. However, despite nine years of sustained efforts, the issue remains unresolved. Employees point out that UGC regulations themselves provide for such special benefits, yet the department has failed to implement them.

Aggrieved staff say that even after submitting all relevant documents and representations to the government, their requests are being rejected. They also allege discrimination, noting that other government departments continue to grant the allowance or increment without any difficulty.

Officials of the higher education department have written to the government seeking guidance on the matter. However, years have passed without any response, and in the meantime, the benefit continues to be denied, employees alleged, Aggrieved employees, Bengaluru.