Chandigarh: PU workers protest over delayed salaries for third time in six months

Sandeep, president of the multitasking workers’ union, said salary delays had become a recurring problem, with payments sometimes held up for two to three months

The multitasking staff workers at Panjab University staged a protest outside the registrar’s office on Tuesday over repeated delays in salary payments, alleging that their wages are withheld for two to three months at a time despite their already meagre earnings of ₹10,000 to ₹12,000 a month. This is the third such protest by the workers in the past six to seven months.

Registrar YP Verma said the salary payment process had been completed. (HT File)

The workers, including sanitation staff responsible for maintaining cleanliness across the campus, said their salaries are supposed to arrive by the seventh of every month but are frequently delayed, forcing them to borrow money and pay interest to meet household expenses.

Sandeep, president of the multitasking workers’ union, said salary delays had become a recurring problem, with payments sometimes held up for two to three months.

Gurkirat Kaur, a sociology student at the university, said there were two categories of workers on campus — those employed on a contractual basis and those on the university’s rolls. She alleged that contractual workers were being neglected despite playing a crucial role in keeping the campus clean and maintained.

She also raised concerns over workers who have reportedly been employed for nearly 30 years but have not been regularised. According to her, some contractual workers are allegedly forced to take breaks after every 11 months, only to be brought back later, to avoid their regularisation.

Kaur further alleged a gender-based disparity in wages, claiming that women workers were paid less than their male counterparts.

Registrar YP Verma said the salary payment process had been completed. “The process has been done. The salary will be credited to their accounts in a day or two,” he said.