The Maharashtra government has significantly relaxed several eligibility norms under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for faculty members serving in government and aided diploma and degree institutes under the Directorate of Technical Education, officials said on Thursday.
The revised provisions will enable certain lecturers who were regularised from contractual or temporary positions to receive CAS benefits retrospectively. These faculty members had been given time until December 31, 2023, to complete the required refresher or training courses.
Additionally, the government has removed the mandatory PhD requirement for placement in the higher Pay Band-4 under CAS for lecturers appointed before March 5, 2010.
The changes were introduced through a Government Resolution (GR) issued on Wednesday, easing academic, training, and qualification criteria linked to promotions.
The decision follows a February 7, 2025, ruling by the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, which partly allowed petitions filed by lecturers challenging a June 2022 GR and set aside a related circular concerning CAS norms.
In response to the tribunal’s directions and representations from faculty members, the state government formed a five-member committee led by Dr Pramod Naik, Joint Director of Technical Education (Mumbai region), to review the 2022 GR. Based on the committee’s recommendations submitted in October 2025, multiple CAS provisions have now been amended, particularly benefiting lecturers regularised from contractual or temporary service.
One of the key relaxations applies to lecturers regularised through government decisions taken in 2015–16. These faculty members had been allowed until December 31, 2023, to complete refresher or training programmes, reportedly in line with extensions granted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Those who completed the courses within the extended deadline will now receive CAS benefits with retrospective effect. Even those who complete the requirements later will be eligible for benefits from the date of completion, thereby protecting many from earlier disqualification.
In another significant move, the government has also waived the PhD requirement for placement in Pay Band-4 under CAS for lecturers appointed before March 5, 2010. While the June 2022 GR had mandated a PhD in line with AICTE norms for Pay Band-4 under the Sixth Pay Commission structure, the latest resolution exempts pre-2010 appointees from this condition.
Further, lecturers appointed in 2003 and 2004 in the Science and Humanities streams will now be eligible for CAS benefits based on MA or MSc qualifications, consistent with norms under the Fifth Pay Commission, instead of being subjected to stricter qualification standards introduced later.
Additionally, contractual or temporary lecturers appointed during 2003–04 have been exempted from the requirement of holding an ME/MTech degree for CAS eligibility. Those appointed after 2003–04 have been given three years from the date of the current GR to acquire the prescribed qualification. If they fail to do so within this period, CAS benefits will not be granted; however, retrospective financial benefits will be provided once the qualification is obtained.
The GR also permits English lecturers who were regularised from contractual service in 2015–16 to avail full CAS benefits based on the qualifications applicable at the time of their appointment, rather than stricter norms introduced subsequently.
