PAU security guards stage dharna over new regularisation process

Ludhiana: Over 200 security guards working as daily paid labourers (DPLs) at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Monday morning held a protest outside Thapar Hall in the campus, over new process of regularisation.
Chamkaur Singh, president of the Chowkidar DPL association of PAU said, “As there have been no posts filled of DPLs from the last 20 years in the university, now when the advertisement is out, the conditions are strange.The authorities are demanding a matriculation certificate for Chowkidar. However, 1,500 employees with no study background were regularised in the municipal corporation (MC) last year. Also, many have crossed the joining age limit while working here. We demand that all the conditions should be removed.”
The security guards work in three shifts — 9am to 5pm, 5pm to 1am, and 1am to 9am. Almost three DPLs are deployed at each gate, and they also perform several other duties inside the campus.
Rajkumar, another DPL said, “One of our employees has been badly hit and we are not supported with insurance. They have passed these conditions through the board, which can be altered.”
The guards claimed that they also met chief minister Bhagwant Mann in this regard on August 15 last year, but nothing has been done so far.
Near-retirement guards yet to be regularised
Meanwhile, many guards are nearing their retirement and are yet to be regularised.
57-year-old Makhan Singh has been stationed outside the university library for duty. He said, “I joined in 2015 and have been appreciated twice, but my future is bleak as I am about to retire.”
Another employee, Arjun Sharma (43), who joined in 2006, said, “Now, the university is considering 37 age-limit for the general category. We have been on our toes even during the Covid-19 pandemic, putting our lives at risk.”
45-year-old Gurprashad Singh has served the university for 23 years now. He recalls: “Physical and written tests were never a mandate for the post, but this year they have introduced it.”