Amid protests by mess and sanitation workers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over their salary arrears, the university administration announced on its official twitter handle on May 7 that it had not removed any workers. The administration also made other important announcements, such as regarding maternity leave and shopping permit.
The university tweeted:
While there have been rumors that the mess workers have been expelled for protesting, the university said in another tweet:
JNU VC and its administration have not removed any employee. All mess workers are retained. Dean of Student Welfare has been asked to submit a detailed report. @EduMinOfIndia @ajaydubey— Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) (@JNU_official_50) May 6, 2022
The workers on Thursday witnessed a sit-in protest at the student counselor’s office against non-payment of salaries for three consecutive months. The workers claim that their salary has been stripped because the chief salesman has not received his payments from the institution. They added that the new work structure proposed by the JNU administration will allow them only three days of work.
Meanwhile, the JNUTA on Saturday expressed concern about the ongoing strike by sanitation workers at the university and urged the administration to immediately resolve their issues and act on their “justified demands”.
In a statement, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) argued that the “discriminatory and illegal treatment” of contract workers has worsened and that no serious efforts have been made by the government to resolve the ongoing crisis. The JNUTA said it was alarmed to see “inhumane treatment” continuing unabated under the new government. “The continued refusal to meet the just demands of the workers is also a sign of extreme insensitivity, as it affects the very workers who put their lives and health in grave danger to selflessly serve the residents of the campus when the pandemic hit. deadliest in the summer months of 2021,” said the statement signed by JNUTA President Bishnupriya Dutt and Secretary Sucharita Sen.
The JNUTA also accused the JNU administration of being “unconcerned”, as indentured workers have been paid at unbearably irregular intervals in recent years. paid by the 7th of every month, the JNU administration does not seem concerned about such willful negligence by the contractor,” the statement said. The JNUTA also pointed out that the number of employees during the lockdown period has been drastic since 2020 reduced.
The association claimed that the current strength of workers engaged in waste collection and disposal has been reduced from 42 in early 2020 to about 30 today. “But even after the reopening of the campus, the number of workers has not increased in proportion to the total workload, both for the sanitation and for the mess workers. “There are reports of further cuts in staffing of the mess and sanitation facilities in the hostels, even as they reach full capacity,” the association said. former JNUSU President and current AICCTU National Vice President.
Read all the latest news, breaking news and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.
