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NEHU teachers disappointed with HRD Ministry

By Staff Correspondent

SHILLONG, June 20 - Teachers from the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) are against a directive from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to do away with the special hill allowance that staff of the university enjoys in the entire region.

The Central University under an ordinance gets a 12 per cent allowance of basic pay known as Hill Area Special Allowance (HASA) apart from Special Duty Allowance of 12.50 per cent of basic pay.

The HRD Ministry in its directive in April this year has said that HASA is �not permissible� as per the extant rules and regulations. The letter also pointed out that the Accountant General (Audit) Meghalaya stated that a proposed draft para on the �inadmissible payment of HASA� be included.

The audit observed that Mizoram and Nagaland University which were earlier paying HASA has discontinued the payment from 2008 after implementation of the 6 th�Central Pay Commission.

The teachers are however contesting these directives saying that NEHU is the only university in the region and in the country where this special ordinance on HASA was framed under the NEHU Act, 1973.

�This ordinance can only be repealed by the Parliament,� NEHUTA president Xavier Mao said. Justifying the dual allowance, the teachers said other universities should also get such allowance to bring parity.

�This special allowance attracts lot of talent to the university. This is the reason that several of the professors are here in NEHU,� one of the faculty members said.

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