Since 1986, the assistant professor who is at the lowest rung of the faculty has been getting Rs 3,500-125-4,500 while the professor at the top rung gets Rs 5,900-7,300.

The fifth Pay Commission presented its report in 1996, but the faculty in AIIMS and PGI Chandigarh, both Central medical institutions, continued to get their old pay scales. In 1998, the Union Health Ministry set up the Bakshi Committee to recommend revised pay scales for the faculty of the two institutes.

But six months after the committee submitted the recommendations in July 1998, they were still awaiting approval of the Finance Ministry. The faculty says meetings and talks with the Health Minister, the Prime Minister and the Human Resources Minister led to nothing. They began theiragitation mildly with a black badge day on January 11, went on a day's strike on January 30 all the while warning of an indefinite strike from February 8.

Their demand was the acceptance of the Bakshi Committee recommendations and wanted a change in the pay scale suggested by the panel for the additional professor.

"If we had wanted a few thousands more we would have just moved to a private hospital," says Professor S K Acharya, president of the Faculty Association of the AIIMS, which is leading the indefinite strike of the 400 faculty members. "I went for the strike because I have a moral commitment to the institute where I myself studied," he says.

While there has been no reaction yet from the Government to the strike that began on Monday, the medical teachers and specialists like to blame the bureaucracy for the Government's disregard for the faculty. They say that out of 400 IAS officers, 250 reach the secretary level, but only one among 400 members of the faculty reaches the same level.