Punjab Agricultural University teachers’ association takes out gate rally

Teachers of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have been protesting for 19 days as the state government and university administration have failed to address their long-pending issues.

Today, the PAU teachers gathered outside Gate No. 1 and took out a gate rally in protest. They urged the state government to get out of its slumber and deliver justice to them. Mandeep Singh Gill, president of the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers’ Association (PAUTA), said the Punjab Government was not serious about resolving several issues that had been pending for the last 19 months. He further said that they had requested the state government and the university administration to provide revised allowances, gratuities, and arrears as per the revised basic pay, at par with public sector colleges and universities of the state, but to no avail.

Dr KS Sangha, while addressing the audience, emphasised that teachers needed to be aware of their rights. He further said the state government and university administration needed to be more considerate towards the ‘genuine’ demands of the PAU teachers.

Gurmeet Singh Dheri, secretary of PAUTA, pointed out that the state government had already notified the revised allowances and gratuity for teachers of other state universities, but the PAU’s teachers were being denied the benefits. The PAU Pensioners Teachers Association also supported the ongoing protests as the state government had still not revised the pension of teachers of the PAU and the GADVASU who retired before January 1, 2016.