Maharashtra Eases Career Advancement Norms for Faculty

The Maharashtra government has eased eligibility conditions under the Career Advancement Scheme, impacting faculty in government and aided technical institutes. The adjustments, including waiving the mandatory PhD requirement, address academic criteria and benefit lecturers retroactively. The changes stem from a tribunal order and committee recommendations.

The Maharashtra government has significantly relaxed eligibility conditions under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for faculty members in government and aided diploma and degree institutes affiliated with the Directorate of Technical Education, officials announced Thursday. These changes ensure that CAS benefits will retroactively extend to certain lecturers who transitioned from contractual or temporary roles.

The government's recent amendments, outlined in a newly issued GR, follow a February 2025 order from the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal. This decision prompted the formation of a committee to review the previously contested CAS stipulations set forth in June 2022. The committee's recommendations, delivered in October 2025, have informed these modifications, which affect lecturers regularized from contractual statuses.

Among the adjustments is the waiver of the mandatory PhD requirement for faculty appointed before March 2010, enhancing their eligibility under the higher Pay Band-4. Additionally, the adjustments revisit qualification benchmarks for those in Science and Humanities, basing promotions on older criteria from the Fifth Pay Commission.

(With inputs from agencies.)