New Delhi: P Chidambaram, the Indian Union Minister of Finance, while busy planning the Union budget 2013, may include an exciting salary offer for foreign faculty of Indian origin in it. As per sources, an amount of over Rs 54 lakh per year will be on offer. This handsome amount is mainly being offered, to attract some of the well-known science faculty (Indian) from abroad, so that they would become part of some of the illustrious Indian institutes.
It is anticipated that the finance minister may reveal the new brain-gain policy in the upcoming budget, and this innovative step is a significant part of it. A senior official from the planning commission of India informed that the government is aiming to hire at least 15 faculty members, from best International Universities in the coming year. Therefore, the commission and the Department of Science & Technology, together, have finalized a package Rs 15 crore, to make an enticing offer to them (Indian origin faculties).
He went on to explain that, the hired foreign faculty would not only be responsible for teaching but will also shall mentor the institutions, in order to indoctrinate, new concepts of science education and research in them. The aim is to bring a cultural change, he added. According to sources, drafting of the final proposal was not easy because of the rejection faced by Ministry of Home Affairs, to similar proposals of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Apparently, IITs asked for work visas of five years, which the ministry did not accept.
However, this time, the government was able make peace with this technical issue, with the help of Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairperson, of the Plan panel. It is clarified that the Ministry has no objection in granting teaching visas for a period of one year, thus, at first, the package will be offered for one year, which would be extendable for another four years, as per the later requirements.
