Hostel guard on hunger strike at Sonepat varsity

Enraged over his termination from a hostel at Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), Sonepat, a mess worker who had been serving as a guard in the boys’ hostel has launched a hunger strike unto death on the university campus.

Other mess workers gathered at the protest site outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office on Thursday in solidarity, warning that they would shut all hostel mess facilities if the demand for his reinstatement was ignored.

Rajesh Goswami, secretary of the Mess Workers’ Association, has been on hunger strike for the past three days. In his complaint to the Governor of Haryana, the Chief Minister, the Education Minister and other authorities, he said he had worked as a guard in the boys’ hostel for the past 18 years.

He alleged that after 53 mess workers submitted a complaint against the “illegal appointment” of a mess supervisor two months ago, chief warden Dr Ajay Singh, annoyed by the move, dismissed him from duty without any reason. Despite repeated appeals to the chief warden, registrar and vice-chancellor, his requests for reinstatement had gone unheard, he claimed.

On Tuesday, Rajesh began his hunger strike outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office. By Thursday, mess workers from all boys’ and girls’ hostels joined him.

Dr Ajay Dabas, president of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University Teachers’ Association (DCRUTA), and Anand Rana, president of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University Employees’ Welfare Union (DCRUEWU), condemned the termination and demanded that Rajesh be reinstated immediately.

Hostel students also came out in his support, submitting a letter signed by over 100 residents. They asserted that Rajesh’s work performance was satisfactory and that he was an employee of the cooperative mess, which is run by the students themselves.

However, chief warden Dr Ajay Singh refuted the allegations, claiming Rajesh had been removed for his “behavioural attitude”. “He used to complain about the university and also misbehaved with staff members,” he said.