Around 450 faculty members of IIT Bombay today joined the nationwide relay fast demanding better pay structure.
Nearly 4,000 IIT faculty members in the country are participating in the agitation, which has entered its second phase. Ten days ago, the faculty members of the elite technology institutes had taken mass casual leave.
Faculty members here continued to teach but wore black badges as a mark of protest. They said Union HRD Ministry should consider their demand seriously as they are overburdened with additional 27 per cent of students through OBC quota and also have to cater to new and satellite IITs.
The faculty members had submitted a memorandum to the Ministry last month in support of their demand.
The IIT faculty is currently getting salaries as per the Sixth Pay Commission report, which according to them, is equal to UGC grade. They, however, want a higher scale as IITs are specialsed higher educational institutes.