Karnataka government had decided to raise emoluments of teachers in the medical colleges. The decision comes in a bid to ensure adequate availability of staff in all its medical colleges. The state is facing the problem of getting quality teaching staff and that makes filling up of vacancies a huge task. In areas like pre-clinical, para clinical subjects, anaesthesia and radio diagnostics there is a serious staff shortage owing to the non availability of qualified candidates.

In a meeting to solve the worsening crisis of staff shortage, the government has realized that there is a huge disparity the pay scales when its scales are compared with the private managements, stated a officials from the Karnataka medical education department. There is also a big difference in the pay scales of the medical institutions owned by the Union government.

In order to retain the existing staff who have been lured into areas of clinical trials and private medical college space, a high level meeting chaired by the Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy decided to fix the total emoluments for the posts of professor, associate professor, assistant professor and lecturer at Rs. 75,000, Rs. 65,000 Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 40,000.

The meeting also decided that the government should follow the guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI) while appointing the faculty. It resolved to retain the designation of lecturer in the case of working in compliance with the MCI regulations. However fresh recruits would not be given the designation of lecturer for technical reasons.

With regards to new entrants, they would be designated as junior tutors and would be recruited on contract for three years on a consolidated monthly pay of Rs. 15,000 during the first year, Rs 16,000 during the second year and Rs. 17,000 during the third year.

The existing scales in the grade of the lecturer Rs. 8,000-275-13,500 and assistant professors Rs 12,000-420-18300 would remain unaffected. But the scale in the grade of professors had been revise from the existing Rs. 16,400 to-450-20,000 to Rs 18,400-500-22,400 and was applicable to all professors.

In the case of associate professors, with no scale as of now, the salary was fixed at Rs 16,400-450-20,000.

The government announced a non practicing monthly allowance of Rs 8,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 17,000 for all lecturers' assistant professors, associate professors and professors. This was optional in the past.

Further, they were also eligible for dearness allowance, house allowance, rent allowance and city compensatory allowance in accordance with the Karnataka Civil Service Rules. All teaching staff would be given an academic allowance of 40 per cent of their respective basic salaries. A post graduate allowances of 3 per cent to lecturers with post graduate degree, 6 percent to assistant professors, 9 per cent to associate professors would be given.

The meeting also decided to accommodate the retired teaching staff on contract during exigency. Such staff recruited on contract would be given the salary they had last drawn and an additional remuneration of Rs. 1,000 excluding the pension benefits.