Pune: In a relief to hourly-wage assistant professors across the Pune division, 486 professors working in 42 senior colleges will receive their due honorarium payments before Diwali.

The disbursement, set to add to the professors' festive spirit, has been facilitated by the timely submission of proposals and government deposits totaling ₹3.27 crore, according to officials from the Joint Director of Higher Education, Pune Division.

The Pune division, which includes institutions in Pune, Ahmednagar, and Nashik, faces significant faculty vacancies, with many colleges opting for hourly-wage assistant professors to fulfill teaching requirements.

Despite their heavy workloads, these professors receive limited compensation, creating financial strain for many. The state government had initially filled only 40% of assistant professor positions in 2018 and has yet to complete the process of filling remaining positions.

In recent months, Pune’s Joint Director of Higher Education, Dr. Ashok Ubale, instructed college principals to submit proposals to ensure timely payment of honorariums to these professors for the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Savitribai Phule Pune University’s delay in providing official appointment letters had previously prolonged payment processing, leaving professors facing further difficulties.

A systematic payment process has now been established. Colleges that have received approval from the university must submit bills monthly to ensure prompt payment.

As a result, 42 colleges have submitted complete proposals, and the government has allocated funds to facilitate payment. Once the funds are credited to college accounts, the honorarium will be swiftly disbursed to eligible professors.

Dr. Ubale added, "Several colleges in the Pune division have yet to submit proposals for hourly-wage professors’ honorarium payments. These institutions must provide honorarium amounts to eligible professors at the institutional level before the Diwali festival."