Madhya Pradesh to Increase Guest Faculty Salaries and Provide Permanent Service

The Madhya Pradesh government is preparing to take a major step for guest faculty working in universities and colleges. Efforts have begun to implement the Haryana model in the state. The Higher Education Department has formed a seven-member committee to study the system implemented in Haryana and present its report and recommendations.

If this model is implemented, the salaries of guest faculty in the state could increase up to 1.5 times the current pay. Additionally, they may receive job stability until retirement.

Guest Faculty Working in Temporary Arrangements for Years

Due to low recruitment of regular professors, there has been a significant shortage of teachers in the state. To address this, temporary and guest faculty appointments were initiated in the 1990s through public participation committees and increased further after 2000.

Currently, guest faculty in Madhya Pradesh receive a daily allowance of ₹2,000. As holidays are unpaid, they typically earn around ₹40,000–₹44,000 per month. They are entitled to only 13 casual and three optional leaves. Their services are terminated without alternative arrangements whenever a regular professor is appointed.

In 2023, then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a salary of ₹50,000 per month for performing guest faculty, but this has not yet been implemented.

Haryana Model for Guest Faculty

In Haryana, UGC-eligible guest faculty with five years of experience receive a monthly salary of ₹57,700 and are retained in service until retirement. According to Dr. Deoraj Singh and Dr. Ashish Pandey, presidents of the Madhya Pradesh Guest Faculty Federation, out of approximately 4,500 guest faculty in the state, around 3,700 are UGC-eligible.

Higher Education Department officials said the committee will study the Haryana system's service conditions, social security, and permanence aspects and provide recommendations accordingly.