Teaching and non-teaching staff of Bharathidasan University withdrew their agitation for payment of arrears of dearness allowance on Monday. The staff members were holding a series of demonstration since October 24 in protest against the delay in payment.
They had planned to observe a fast on Monday but withdrew the move following the release of the arrears. They participated in a meeting to condole the demise of the university’s first Vice-Chancellor P.S. Manisundaram.
Members of the Joint Action Committee, including Bharathidasan University Staff Welfare Association and Bharathidasan University Teachers’ Association, said that payment of DA arrears was a routine affair and delay was not witnessed even once in the 31-year-old university. Association secretary S. Muruganandam, said they had to resort to agitation as the members were not satisfied with the reasons given by the university administration for the delay. Office-bearers of associations pointed out that it had been explicitly said in the past that any government order benefiting the employees of the university should be implemented without any delay.
Association treasurer A. Sudhakar said that the confusion was a result of the absence of a Vice-Chancellor and wanted the government and the search committee to expedite the appointment of a person to head the university. An office-bearer of the association said that the JAC members were concerned about the financial position of the university and would seek a white paper on its resources.
The JAC said its members would resort to boycott of the convocation and examination work if punitive action was initiated against them for participating in the agitation.
