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Ludhiana: Engineering college staffers lock principal’s office, go on indefinite protest
The protesting staffers said that they have been staging a two-hour peaceful protest outside the administrative block of the engineering college since October while continuing to perform their duties
A high drama was witnessed at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College on Friday after teaching and non-teaching staff locked the principal’s office and proceeded on an indefinite strike outside the college premises. The staffers also locked the main gate and administrative block of the college in protest.
The college staffers had been abstaining from performing their duties since Tuesday, seeking regularisation of teaching faculty and other staff members, following which the college administration had suspended four staffers out of which two were teaching and two were non-teaching staff members which led to the current situation.
The protesting staffers said that they have been staging a two-hour peaceful protest outside the administrative block of the college since October while continuing to perform their duties. “The administration did not pay any heed to our demands. So, we decided to abstain from performing our duties after which the college administration has suspended four staffers,” they added.
There are around 400 teaching and non-teaching staff members at Guru Nanak Engineering College on Gill Road.
“We had gone to discuss the issue of suspensions with the principal who said he does not have the authority to respond to them, after which the staff members asked him to leave the office and put a lock outside the principal’s office,” said Deepinder Singh, president, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College Teachers Association.
He added that the staff is protesting for a demands, including the implementation of new pay scales for non-teaching staff and the release of dearness allowance from March 2020.
Paramjit Singh, a teacher at the college, said that even after regularising 83 teachers, the administration has extended the probation period and did not increase their salaries.
Principal of the college Sehijpal Singh said the college management has taken the decision in response to the “indiscipline and ruckus” created by the teachers.
