20/12/2017
PUNE: Hundreds
of teachers, from across eight campuses spread through the city, gathered to
voice their concern regarding the delay despite several reminders. Teaching and
non-teaching staff of Sinhgad Institutes on strike at Sinhgad college in
Vadgaon Budruk on Monday.
Teachers and staff members of the Sinhgad Institute on Monday
began an indefinite strike against the management for pending salaries of the
past 10 months. The teaching and non-teaching staff at the Sinhgad Institute
took a non-cooperative stand against the institute's management after they
failed to comply to their ultimatum to pay the salaries pending for the past 10
months.
Hundreds of teachers, from across eight campuses spread
through the city, gathered on Monday to voice their concern regarding the delay
despite several reminders. As per the ultimatum that was issued to the
respective institution's principals on December 4, the last date to pay the
dues to the faculty and staff members was December 14. On failing to adhere to
the deadline, the management was sent another letter to comply on December 15.
The letter had mentioned that in case the institute administration failed to
address the situation, a non-cooperation strike will be ensued at all its
campuses from December 18.
A faculty member from NBN Sinhgad School of Engineering,
Ambegaon, on request of anonymity said, “We have not been receiving our
salaries properly since October 2016 to September 17. Only 40 per cent has been
given, with just the basic salary and AGP (Academic Grade Pay). For October and
November 2017, our entire salaries are due and no communication has reached us
despite the ultimatum.The strike, thus, will be on till all the payments are
completed, and until then, no classes will be held.”
The professor of engineering, along with over 400 faculty and
staff members from three different campuses had assembled at Sinhgad
Technical Education Society, Vadgaon Budruk, in protest of the atrocity.
Sachin Shinde, the professor who was suspended from the
Sinhgad Technical Education Society’s Kashibai Navale College of Engineering
for taking a stand and sending a complaint letter to AICTE on September 26,
2017, told HT: “The management is continuously ignoring our calls and that is
why we had to resort to an indefinite strike. Initially, when communicated, we
were told that around 130 crores of money was stuck with students and social
welfare department, but the staff who were collecting them, have seen the
amount to be in lakhs, let alone a crore. Their claims are bogus.”
Talking about their demands, another professor of Sinhgad
Institute of Technology and Science (SITS) said, “We are also demanding
that the salaries need to be deposited with 18 per cent interest as
compensation for the delay. Also, we have been struggling with another issue
whereby the college-owned Anand Bank, where all our salaries were being
deposited, has appeared faulty at several instances. We want the authorities to
remedy the situation and deposit our salaries in nationalised banks instead of
Anand Bank.”
“Being college-owned, the bank is being used to fulfil all
dubious procedures. This includes the time when NAAC had come for an inspection
and all the payments were shown to be completed. Once they departed, the amount
was then withdrawn without any information. Teachers and staff got to know only
when the cheques bounced. We do not trust it,” added Shinde.
“Providing excellence in education has always been our motto since the last 25 years. We want to reassure you that we have had discussions with the involved parties and are confident of resolving the matter at the earliest,” stated a public statement from Sinhgad Institutes.
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