Non-teaching college staff up in arms

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 11

On a call of the Private College Non-Teaching Employees Union (PCNTEU), Punjab (Aided & Unaided), a full-day stay-in strike and dharna were observed by the local unit of the Non-Teaching Employees Union of Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala.

The non-teaching employees of the college were on strike from 11 am to 2 pm. They staged a dharna on the college gate. The agitated employees raised slogans against the partial behaviour of the Punjab Government towards the non-teaching employees of private aided colleges.

Vinod Sharma, secretary of the Non-Teaching Employees Union of Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala, said: "The Punjab Government is not making any fresh appointments of non-teaching employees and there is no pension or gratuity for retired non-teaching employees of private aided colleges. Because of this behaviour of the Punjab Government, non-teaching employees have to bear heavy losses".

Vinod Sharma said: "On one hand, employees working at present have to take more and more workload with every passing year due to no fresh appointment, while on the other employees who are getting retired don't get any financial aid in the form of pension and gratuity. So in both ways, non-teaching employees of private aided colleges are being exploited. There is no such problem with the non-teaching employees of government colleges".

DN Yadav, president of the union, said: "The Punjab Government is forcing non-teaching employees to bear financial as well as professional losses by not implementing 4-9-14 step-up increment scheme. The government is also not implementing the revised grade pay under December 2011 notification for non-teaching employees of private colleges as per their counterparts in government colleges. So, in both situations i.e. 4-9-14 step-up increments and grade pay revision, non-teaching employees are being exploited by the Punjab Government".

"Preparations for the new pay commission have already been started, whereas enhanced grade pays of the existing pay commission have not been implemented as yet for non-teaching employees of private aided colleges," said DN Yadav.

Ajay Kumar Gupta, vice-president, PCNTEU, Punjabi University Wing, informed about the struggle programme schedule of the Central Union.

He said: "It's a shame for the Punjab Government that non-teaching employees are observing strikes and holding dharnas for the past one month, but the government is taking no action for the genuine demands of the non-teaching employees". He cautioned the Punjab Government that "if it is not going to accept our genuine demands, then non-teaching employees union will hold a state-level rally in March and gherao the State Assembly House in Chandigarh. The next dharna will be held at the college gate on February 19.

DN Yadav, Vinod Sharma, Ajay Gupta, Jaswinder Singh, Sham Lal Sharma, Madan Lal, Sohan Lal, Puran Bahadur, Swami Prasad, Shiv Shankar Mishra, Jagroop 

Singh, Vinod Kumar, Sukhdev Ram and all non-teaching employees of the college were present at the protest venue.