Teachers' body demands rollback of MoE order on MPhil, PhD increments

NEW DELHI: The Democratic Teachers' Initiative (DTI) on Wednesday demanded an immediate withdrawal of the education ministry's 2017 directive scrapping MPhil/PhD increments and enabling retrospective recoveries from faculty across universities. DTI leaders dismissed Delhi University's August 20 advisory to principals to maintain "status quo" on the matter as a "sham" and "gimmick" to mislead teachers, an official statement issued by the group said.

The meeting was addressed by Prof. Surajit Mazumdar, President of JNU Teachers' Association, Prof. Nandita Narain, former DUTA President, Prof. Dhiraj Nite, Dr. Debaditya Bhattacharya of Jamia Millia Islamia and Dr. Uma Gupta of DU.

They said the larger teaching community was united against what they termed an "illegal directive" by the Ministry and subsequent UGC clarifications. Faculty members appointed as Assistant Professors on or after January 1, 2016, who had been granted advance increments for MPhil or PhD degrees, are now facing their withdrawal.

Incentives covered under CAS

According to the teachers' body, many have been served recovery notices running into several lakhs, which teachers' groups described as "extortion." The controversy stems from a 2017 ministry letter stating that incentives for higher qualifications were already covered under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).

Additional increments were therefore deemed "not applicable." However, teachers argue this contradicts the UGC Regulations of 2018, which continue to provide for such increments and were notified through the Gazette, giving them the force of law.

DTI leaders also pointed out that the matter is under review by an expert committee appointed by the UGC Chairperson in March 2025, and any recovery exercise before the review is completed is "arbitrary and violative of due process." They added that college and university orders only prohibit sanctioning fresh increments, not withdrawing those already granted.

Under earlier UGC norms , teachers were entitled to five increments for a PhD and two for an MPhil at the time of appointment, while those who earned the qualifications during service received three and one, respectively. The DTI said it will intensify its campaign along with other teachers' bodies to press for the rollback of the order.