Demands not met, varsity guest faculty pitch tent over VC’s office

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 17

The guest faculty members from neighbourhood campuses and constituent colleges of Punjabi University are in protest mode outside the Dean’s office since July 16 to demand approval for the 2024-25 academic session.

Emulating the farmers’ protest — who pitched tents at Shambhu Border after Haryana Police blocked the National Highway-44 to stop their Dilli Chalo march — the protesting women guest faculty members, who had scaled the roof of the Vice-Chancellor’s office have also put up a tent on the roof. They have refused to vacate the area till their demands are met.

On July 19, the faculty members had also gheraoed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s house in Sangrur.

The leaders of the teachers’ union said that the syndicate had already given these guest faculty members 12 months of approval. However, the university authorities ignored this decision and issued a fresh notice for re-interview of the guest faculty members.

Union president Gursewak Singh said if the university arranges interviews for guest faculty assistant professors, some of them may lose their jobs despite teaching in the neighbourhood campuses and constituent colleges since 2018.

Since then, the university has been granting approval to the assistant professors to teach students without any interview during every academic session, he added.

Later, during the evening Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh visited the protesting guest faculty at the university. He went to the top floor of the office building and persuaded the protestors to come down. He said that the government would agree to all the viable demands of the teachers and assured them of positive outcomes. After the discussion with Singh, the guest faculty ended the protest.