Patna, (Bihar Times): Over 30,000 non-teaching employees of all the nine universities and 250 constituent colleges of the state, went on indefinite strike from July 1, the date on which they were all scheduled to reopen after a month-long summer vacation.
The strike is complete as all three factions three factions of non-teaching staff associations––the Patna University Employees Association, Bihar State University Employees Federation and Bihar State University and College Employees Federation––
have joined strike.
A large number of students and teachers turned up at their respective universities and colleges only to find the gates locked. In Patna University, where the strike is going on for the last few weeks, the employees picketed outside the college gates to ensure that not a single student or guardian enter the campus. They also tried to disturb ongoing interviews for admission to BBA, BCA and Mass Communications courses at Patna College.
The scene in other universities was more or less the same. In Jaya Prakash University, Chapra, students of BA-III year went on rampage the authorities had to postponed their exam. Reports of scuffle have also come from BRABU and LNMU.
Their main demands include merger of 50 percent DA with the basic salary, assured career promotion scheme, removal of anomalies in revised payscales and payment of house rent and city compensatory allowances with effect from February 1999. College staff are also demanding implementation of the previous agreements made in 2005 and 2007.
On the other hand the president of the Federation of University Service Teachers Associations of Bihar (FUSTAB), Ram Jatan Sinha, threatened that teachers of colleges and universities in the state would also go on strike from the third week of July if some of their pending demands, including merger of 50 percent DA with basic pay and payment of arrears of revised UGC scales were not met. He charged that the state government had given repeated assurances that the arrears would be paid in installments. Sinha said that except for the payment of 1996-97 the teachers have got nothing.
Are we all returning back to the old days, or is it just a myth that education system has improved in Bihar.
If we are not able to manage the colleges in hand, how can we think of more colleges in these scenario. Its high time to organise and pay attention to every aspects. Create a good environment of studies, that can prevents lakhs of ruppees draining out every year from the state.
Rakesh Ranjan
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