Board of finance meeting today: PU to deliberate adoption of Punjab’s revised pension plan
If implemented, the pay scales, as per the recommendation of 7th University Grants Commission, could lead to a one-time arrear liability of ₹70 crore and an annual recurring cost of ₹7.25 crore.
Panjab University (PU) will on Monday deliberate upon the Punjab government’s notification regarding the revision of pension/family pension for teachers and equivalent cadres who retired before January 1, 2016, in accordance with the recommendation of the 7th University Grants Commission (UGC).
If implemented, the move could lead to a one-time arrear liability of ₹70 crore for the university from January 1, 2016, to September 30, 2025, along with an annual recurring cost of ₹7.25 crore.
The notification was issued by Anindita Mitra, secretary, department of higher education and languages, Punjab, in April 2025. This was in keeping with the Punjab cabinet’s decision on September 9, 2022, and a resultant notification on September 28, 2022, under Rule 13(iii) of the Department of Higher Education, according to which, the pension will be revised notionally based on the pay scale or grade pay at which an employee retired or died. The revised pension will be 50% of the notional pay as of January 1, 2016, while the revised family pension will be 30% of the same notional pay.
A senior PU official, who will be present at the BoF meeting, said the varsity will first explore the feasibility of implementing this decision as Punjab itself is yet to implement it for teachers in their own state universities and colleges.
The official added that even if PU goes ahead with the plan, the money will have to come from the Punjab government, which is already defaulting on several counts, including funds for building a new hostel and pending payments under the Post Matriculate Scholarship scheme.
Applicability of old pension scheme
PU will also consider the recommendation for adoption of a notification issued by the department of finance, Punjab government, regarding applicability of the old pension scheme for employees who joined service on or after January 1, 2004, but whose posts or vacancies were advertised for recruitment before January 1, 2004.
Enhancement of stipend to dental students
The board will also deliberate on enhancement of internship/stipend to Bachelors of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Masters of Dental Surgery (MDS) students. Earlier, stipend for the BDS students was ₹11,700 per month and for masters students, it was ₹13,195 per month. The vice-chancellor has approved the stipend to be increased to ₹12,300 for BDS and ₹13,900 per month for MDS students. The financial liability for PU will go up from ₹2.21 crore to ₹2.32 crore and this will be put before the board for their approval. This comes after the dental students staged an eight-day chain hunger strike in 2023 over this issue. The main purpose of the meeting will be to prepare the revised estimates of 2025-26 and to prepare the budget estimates of 2026-27.
