Bhubaneswar: Members of Utkal University Teachers Association (UUTA) sat on a hunger strike near the office of the vice chancellor (VC) Tuesday to press for fulfilment of their long-standing demands.
UUTA secretary Kunja Behari Panda said, “We will continue our hunger strike until our demands are met. One of our members will sit on dharna everyday on a rotation basis.”
The association has been on strike since July this year demanding immediate implementation of career advancement scheme (CAS), 7th Pay Commission recommendations, repair of residential quarters on the campus, confirmation of the services of faculty members, advance increment for MPhil/PhD holders, redesignation of Readers, recruitment of non-teaching staff, insurance schemes among others, Panda added.
UUTA joint secretary B Mohanty said earlier the VC, Registrar and PG Council Chairman had assured them of fulfilling their demands by August 31 following which the protest was put off till July 31. “However, no progress was made on this front and the VC provided us several deadlines which were missed.”
On the other hand, frequent absence of the VC and some other key functionaries has affected the day-to-day office work. Hundreds of files are seen piled up in the office of the VC and the registrar, Mohanty stated.
The association secretary said they would be on ‘hunger strike till death’ if their demands were not met.