Faculty protest disrupts classes at Punjabi University

Patiala, September 6

The ongoing protest by faculty members of the Punjabi University campus has disrupted classes for the past one week.

The faculty members’ pen-down strike coupled with a few holidays have left the students in the lurch.

The faculty members had gone on pen-down strike last Friday to press for the timely release of salaries. A day before, many students were found missing from the campus due to the Rakhi festival.

Meanwhile, the faculty members extended the pen-down strike for Monday as well. The teachers, after a meeting with the university administration, decided to take classes for the remaining part of the week, but were left with only Tuesday and Wednesday to teach the students.

Students said, “Classes have been disrupted for the past several days. Many students did not return from home on Teachers’ Day (Tuesday) as the faculty members had announced to continue the pen-down strike in case the university failed to release their salaries. The teachers also observed the day as “Black day”. After Wednesday, the campus will again not have any classes due to a public holiday on Thursday.”

The faculty members said they took classes on Wednesday. “We will resume our pen-down strike on Monday, if the university administration failed to disburse our pending salaries by then,” they said.