Candidates begin canvassing for KU non-teaching staff union prez poll

The stage is being set for the Kurukshetra University Non-Teacher Employees’ Association (KUNTEA) elections, scheduled to be held on February 14 at the university.

The elections will be held for seven posts — president, senior vice-president, vice-president, general secretary, joint secretary, press secretary and treasurer.

Out of the 16 posts of executive committee member, seven have been elected unanimously.

Over 1,150 non-teaching employees will vote to decide the fate of the candidates.

Three candidates — outgoing president Rajwant Kaur, former president Neelkanth Sharma and Ram Kumar — are in the fray for the post of the KUNTEA president. The candidates have been canvassing and seeking support from non-teaching employees.

Pending promotions, Old Pension Scheme, creation of new posts in Self-Finance Scheme (SFS), central university status for the university, implementation of old staff ratio, better medical facilities at the health centre of the university, cashless medical facility, recruitment for vacant posts, new houses for non-teaching employees, and benefits for SFS employees on the lines of budgeted employees are some major issues being talked about by the candidates.

Outgoing president Rajwant Kaur said, “The implementation of old staff ratio is a major issue and we will make all efforts to get this demand met with priority. During the last term, we managed to get over 20 demands met in the favour of employees, and we will continue to raise the issues related to the employees strongly with the authorities, and get our demands accepted. We have a 34-point agenda — including promotions, recruitment, medical facilities and financial benefits on the lines of teaching staff for the next term. We have been getting tremendous support, and are confident to register victory in the elections.”

Neelkanth Sharma, who is also contesting the elections for the president’s post, said, “We have been raising many issues, including the cashless medical facility on the lines of state government, promotions on seniority basis, conversion of posts of Self-Finance Scheme into budgeted posts, central university status for the university, and the beautification of university. Besides these issues, creating a fearless atmosphere for non-teaching employees is also a major issue which we have been taking up with the voters. We are getting a good support from all the employees.”

Meanwhile, Ram Kumar, another candidate, said, “We have worked for the welfare of the non-teaching employees in the past and we will continue to work for them. We have shared our 21-point agenda with the voters and have assured them that we would resolve the pending issues of the employees — including issues such as old staff ratio, pending promotions, recruitments and creation of new posts for the employees. The non-teaching employees have been extending their support to us, and we confident of registering a win.”