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PUTA lifts dharna after varsity agrees to fulfil demands
The Punjabi University Teachers’ Association (PUTA) has decided to end their nine-day long protest after the varsity authorities agreed to fulfil their long-pending
The Punjabi University Teachers’ Association (PUTA) has decided to end their nine-day long protest after the varsity authorities agreed to fulfil their long-pending demands, in Patiala on Wednesday.
A two-member delegation of PUTA held a meeting with senior functionaries of the varsity following which, both the entities came to consensus over the demands.
PUTA secretary Gurnam Singh Virk said that the university authorities have assured them in writing that the pending arrears of dearness allowance (DA), worth ₹5.6 crore, will be deposited in the bank accounts of employees before March 31, while the remaining amount of ₹1.50 crore will be cleared by August end.
Virk said they have also been assured that the accounts related to general provident fund (GPF) and National Pension Scheme (NPS) of the employees covered under the old pension scheme will be updated by month end, while other discrepancies related to the NPS will be overcome by May 31.
“A special committee will be constituted to deal with issues related to NPS. The committee will decide on contribution of employees and employers after scrutinising the cases,” he said.
PUTA president Jaswider Singh Brar said that the varsity officials have also assured that a committee will be formed to discuss annual increment of the teaching faculty working on ad-hoc basis.
“Proceedings of Syndicate meeting and leave rules will be uploaded online, time-bound release of retiree benefits post-superannuation and promotions to teaching faculty will also be done as per the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) norms,” he said.
“Most of our demands have been fulfilled after a series of meetings with the university functionaries. On financial issues of the teachers, the university told the PUTA delegation that they can be dealt once the university is provided with some financial help from the state government,” Brar said.
