After a delegation of representatives of various IITs met in New Delhi and rejected the proposal of the Central government related to the revised salary of the professors, it is more likely that disruptions will continue in the country’s premier engineering institutes.

The representatives from various IITs — IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Mumbai, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Chennai — have refuted the Centre’s argument that the IIT professors are paid better than their colleagues in the university.

On Saturday, which happened to be the Teacher’s Day, the professors at all the IITs in the country went on a day long protest and hunger strike.

“On September 2, the directors of IIT met the HRD officials and convinced them that the teachers at IIT are getting more. We analysed the argument thoroughly and rejected it. We have also issued a rejoinder to the ministry,” said Mritunjoy Chakraborty, an IIT-Kharagpur professor who was part of the delegation.

The professors are also demanding performance-related incentives given in ISRO and DRDO. M Thenmojhi, a professor of IIT-Chennai, said they have prepared their response to the ministry and would seek an appointment with the officials of the Union HRD ministry soon.

“Earlier, we were treated at par with the university system. For instance, the IIT associate professor in IITs would get all the benefits of a professor in a university system something which the professors claimed they have been denied,” said Professor Kanchan Chowdhury, president of IIT Teachers Association at IIT-Kharagpur.

The protesting teachers say they cannot accept the fact that they have been downgraded especially when promotion and getting into the IIT system is so tough.

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