MDU non-teaching staff sit on protest against VC

Rohtak: Members of the non-teaching employees' union at Maharshi Dayanand University on Wednesday launched a protest against vice-chancellor Prof Milap Singh Poonia, alleging prolonged delay in promotions and administrative apathy. The employees staged a sit-in protest outside the VC office and warned that the agitation would intensify if their demands were not fulfilled by the evening.Union president Suresh Kaushik said that the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) process was stalled for nearly one and a half months. Around 15 promotions are pending, but the related file has allegedly been moving repeatedly between the Vice-Chancellor's office and the registrar's office without any resolution.Kaushik stated that the matter was already brought to the notice of the university administration through written representations and two memorandums, but no action was taken so far. He also alleged that the employees met the Vice-Chancellor a day earlier, but his response was not satisfactory. According to him, even during the submission of the memorandum on Tuesday, the administration's attitude remained "uncooperative."The union announced a pen-down strike on Wednesday and warned that a full-fledged dharna would begin from Thursday if the promotions were not cleared by evening. The employees also objected to the appointment of a professor as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the vice-chancellor. Kaushik said that the university already had a secretary to the VC, Om Prakash Yadav, who was handling the responsibilities and whose post was considered senior to that of OSD.He claimed that since 1976, the post of OSD to the VC was traditionally held by a member of the non-teaching staff, and replacing a non-teaching official with a professor triggered resentment among employees.The union further alleged that the VC "turned employees against himself" by failing to implement a high court order related to a Grade Pay case of Rs 3,500-3,600, despite employees already winning the matter in court. The union warned that if the promotions were not processed by evening, a gate meeting would be held on Thursday morning to decide the next course of action. MSID: 131227741 413 |