NEW DELHI: Union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday that research would no longer be a condition for college professors’ promotion. However, research will continue to be mandatory for university teachers’ promotion.With this decision, the government has addressed a long-standing grievance of teachers who have termed the academic performance index (API) comprising the research condition unfair.Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day conference attended by teachers from over 80 universities, and organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM) and Delhi University’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay College, the minister said that the opposition to API made him realise that compulsory research for promotions of college professors could not work.“But they still have to mandatorily do a student and a community activity for a promotion,” he added. He said teachers intent on research could pursue it. “It will be choicebased,” he stated.He also spoke about creating smart campuses with an emphasis on energy conservation and cleanliness. There will be a smart campus competition, which, he said, will centre on “saving electricity, harvesting water and energy generation through solar panels on college roofs”. “All institutes have to participate in this and we will rank them on cleanliness,” he added.On the issue of the norms for ad hoc employees in DU, where there are over 9,000 ad hoc teachers, much more than in other universities, the minister said the system would be changed “and their appointment be regularised in a year’s time”. He also said the seventh pay commission would going to be rolled out soon.