Patna: Teachers and non-teaching staff of Patna University have vowed to go on mass casual leave on Saturday demanding implementation of seventh pay commission scale despite vice-chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh appealing to them to not go ahead with the agitation.

Around 300 teachers and an equal number of non-teaching employees will go on mass casual leave.

The last time teachers had gone on mass casual leave at PU was around two decades back. "For past six months we have been hearing assurance from the state government of implementation of the seventh pay package for teachers and non-teaching employee, but till date no decision has been taken," said Randhir Kumar Singh, president, Patna University Teachers Association. "The state government is giving seventh pay package to its employee than what is affecting them from giving seventh pay package to teachers too."

On Wednesday, vice-chancellor Singh had convened a meeting of representatives at his residence of teaching and non-teaching employees and urged them to cancel their call of going on mass casual leave.

Sources said that the vice-chancellor asked the delegation to cancel their mass casual leave call. He had pointed out that chief minister Nitish Kumar during the inaugural ceremony of Patliputra University had announced that university teachers and non-teaching staff will get seventh pay commission package.

Nitish had said that he had asked education department officials to constitute a committee for preparing the report based on which recommendations for seventh pay commission package for university teachers would be made.

The chief minister had also asked the teachers to focus more on teaching.

The state government is looking into their demands but the teachers should be concerned about teaching as the state is spending nearly 25 per cent of its total budget allocation on education, Nitish had said.

Education department sources said that the seventh pay commission recommendations would be implemented from January 1, 2016, and the commission has suggested a 23.55 percent hike in the pay and allowances.

If and when the new pay package is implemented, the new salary band for assistant professors (lecturers) will be Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100, for associate professors (readers) it will be Rs 37,400 to Rs 67,000 and for professors it will be Rs 67,000 to Rs 79,000.