DAV college teachers hold protest over pending grades

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 23

The local unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) sat on a two-hour peaceful dharna at the DAV College campus here on Saturday.

DAV Colleges Coordination Committee led by convener Dr BB Yadav said they had resorted to protest as the management continued to deny the rightful dues to the employees for a long time. A dharna was held between 11 am and 1 pm. There seemed to be widespread anger among teachers against the alleged dictatorial attitude of the DAV management committee.

The dharna was led by PCCTU general secretary Prof Sukhdev Singh Randhawa, district secretary Dr Sanjeev Dhawan, local unit president Prof Sharad Manocha and secretary Prof Ashok Kapoor.

General Secretary Prof Sukhdev Singh Randhawa expressed his resentment against the college management committee. He said the associate grades of many professors had been pending for the last four years. This inordinate delay in granting promotion had hampered the career growth of many teachers.

In his address, he warned the management committee that if the long-pending demands of the teachers were not met in time, the struggle would be intensified in which all DAV colleges of Punjab would jointly design the struggle. Randhawa further said the teachers had always protested in a peaceful manner for their rights. He further said for a long time the DAV management committee, New Delhi, had been ignoring the legitimate demands of college professors.

Prof Ashok Kapoor, secretary of the local PCCTU unit, said the demonstration would be intensified in the coming days if the management did not respond positively.