The long battle of social work teachers in Maharashtra has ended with the shifting of all the social work colleges to the Department of Higher and Technical Education. More than 68 social work colleges including 52 receiving government grants, were functioning under the Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance.
The Government notification to this effect has been issued. All the social work colleges in Maharashtra will be under the Department of Higher and Technical Education from March 1, 2024.
Some of the college managements were against this move for which the Maharashtra Association of Social Work Educators (MASWE) was fighting. The Social Justice Department had sanctioned grants to Master in Social Work (MSW), which is not available under the Department of Higher and Technical Education. Under Social Justice Department the staffing pattern was also different. The student-teacher ratio was different and posts of non-teaching were sanctioned with full salary. Under Higher Education, the staffing pattern is different and is related to the strength of the students. The student-teacher ratio now is the same.
Only Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and MSS Institute of Social Work, Nagpur were under Higher Education since the beginning. TISS now is a deemed university.
The pension scheme for college teachers was sanctioned in 1982, while the social work colleges under Social Justice had to fight for it and got the permission benefit only in 2014. The benefits of the Fifth Wage Commission and Sixth Wage Commission were extended to social work college staff after a long struggle. The wages under the seventh pay commission have not yet been worked out for them.
Founder President of MASWE Ambadas Mohite said that the grants sanctioned to social work colleges by the Social Justice Department will not be withdrawn. New colleges, however, will not get the grants as per the rules of the Higher and Technical Education Department.
Encashment of unused leave, health scheme benefits, etc will now be available to the staff of social work colleges.
Only Maharashtra State had affiliated social work colleges to the Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance. The teachers’ and nonteaching staff’s posts required dual approval from the university and also from the Social Justice Department. The salaries and other grants were not being released for months together. With the transfer of colleges to the Department of Higher and Technical Education these issues will be sorted out.