Novel protest by Pbi varsity non-teaching employees

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 3

Awaiting their salaries for the past two months, Punjabi University’s non-teaching employees today resorted to protest by polishing shoes outside the office of Vice-Chancellor Prof Arvind.

Meanwhile, a university employee has been sitting on a hunger strike for the past five days. The non-teaching workforce has been holding symbolic protests outside the VC office for the past 18 days.

Manoj Bhambri, an employee, said, “The university has failed to disburse our salaries and pensions for the months of December and January. This has led to major inconvenience for many of us. One of the employees has been holding a hunger strike for the past five days, but the authorities have even failed to get his medical checkup done.”

Employees said the government’s decision to implement new pay scales has burdened the university by Rs 100 crore a year. “In case the state government fails to provide grants, the university will be excessively burdened for the upcoming fiscal year,” an employee said.