Why Teachers’ protests over MPhil/PhD increments deserve national attention?

New Delhi: The ongoing protests across universities and colleges may look like another round of academic unrest, but they reflect something far deeper - how arbitrary policymaking and bureaucratic overreach can erode both the dignity and financial security of India’s teaching community.

The controversy stems from the Union Ministry of Education’s 2017 directive that withdrew advance increments for MPhil/PhD holders and directed recoveries of already disbursed payments. Faculty members, who had received increments through due process, sanctioned university orders, and in line with UGC policies, are now being served with recovery notices running into several lakhs.

This is no routine pay dispute. It is, as one teacher put it, “an extortionist exercise.”

At the heart of the matter lies a legal and moral anomaly. The 2017 Ministry letter claimed that incentives for higher qualifications were already included in the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). Yet the UGC’s own 2018 Gazette notification explicitly provides for non-compounded advance increments for MPhil/PhD holders.

By law, UGC regulations, published in the Gazette, override ministerial communications.

Why then are universities citing the weaker MoE letter to penalise teachers? Why the rush, when the UGC itself appointed an expert committee in March 2025 to review the very issue? 

Acting before the committee reports is not just premature; it undermines due process.

Across campuses, the anger is palpable. “Recovery of duly processed increments is not just unfair, it is illegal,” insists Prof. Surajit Mazumdar of JNU, who heads both Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) and JNUTA.

Prof. Nandita Narain, former DUTA President and Chairperson, Joint Forum for Movement on Education (JFME), is moreblunt: “This is a direct assault on teachers’ dignity. Benefits that were formally authorised cannot be withdrawn retrospectively.”

From Ambedkar University, Prof. Dhiraj Nite, Secretary, AUDFA, highlights the arbitrary nature of enforcement: “Universities are issuing recovery notices without due notification. Such selective targeting is unjust and in violation of established procedure.”

At Jamia Millia Islamia, Dr. Debaditya Bhattacharya frames the issue in larger terms: “We are being penalised for qualifications that were encouraged under UGC policy. This sets a dangerous precedent.”

And from Delhi University, Dr. Uma Gupta, faculty member and DTI activist, dismisses the DU administration’s appeal for “status quo” as a sham: “It is a gimmick to manipulate common teachers while recoveries continue unabated.”

What is unfolding is not merely an argument about pay fixation. It is about governance in higher education and respect for academic labour. The Ministry’s approach not only contradicts law but also undermines trust between institutions and their teachers. If the state can claw back legitimately sanctioned increments retrospectively, what prevents future governments from rewriting rules at will?

The Democratic Teachers’ Initiative (DTI) is expected to escalate its campaign. Teachers’ livelihoods and academic morale are at stake. But so too is the principle of fairness in public administration.

This is why the protests deserve national attention. When teachers, the backbone of higher education, are forced to fight for increments they rightfully earned, it is not just a sectoral issue. It is a test of how India treats its intellectual workforce.

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