Non-teaching staff of Pune varsity resume work as strike put on hold till October 17

Non-teaching staff across the state are on strike from September 24 and have put forth various demands before the state

The strike of non-teaching staff at various universities across the state, including Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has been temporarily put on hold till October 17 after representatives met deputy chief minister and Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai, on Thursday.

Non-teaching staff members of Savitribai Phule Pune University during a protest in the campus, on Thursday. (Milind Saurkar/HT Photo)

The non-teaching staff across the state are on strike from September 24 and have put forth various demands before the state.

At SPPU there are around 1,200 staffers and almost 90 per cent of them were participating in the protest. So admissions, examination, evaluation of papers and other administrative works is pending.

“We have repeatedly kept our demands in front of the state government and last week we had a video conference meeting with Uday Samant. But as there was no written assurance given to us, the strike continued. Today (on Thursday) we met Pawar,” said Sunil Dhiwar, SPPU staffer and vice-president of SPPU non-teaching staff Kruti Samiti.

“Now, as Samant is quarantined as he tested positive for Covid-19, we have put the strike on hold till October 17. After that, we will hold a meeting with Samant and if our demands are not met with we will resume our strike from October 19,” he said.