Teachers and students of KMCT Ayurveda Medical College at Mukkom are planning to intensify their ongoing strike seeking reinstatement of dismissed teachers and payment of fair wages to teachers.
Functionaries of the Private Ayurveda College Teachers Organisation (PACTO) told the media here on Thursday that the strike was launched on April 20, three days after four senior teachers were terminated from service without prior notice.
Mohammed Mirdas, State joint secretary, PACTO, claimed that the dismissal followed the strike notice served on the management demanding wages and other benefits in line with industry standards. “Compared to other colleges, our salaries are very low, and we don’t get benefits such as provident fund contribution and medical leave. There is no annual increment too,” he alleged.
During an inspection by a team from the Central Council of Indian Medicine in April, the management had agreed to sort out the issue, he claimed. “However, they [management] did not keep their promise. The salaries of teachers who participated in a meeting later to discuss the issue were cut,” Mr. Mirdas alleged. This was followed by the dismissal of senior teachers, including the vice principal and those part of the examination panel of the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS). The principal of the college had been asked to go on leave, he added.
“The practical exams of final year graduate students, scheduled for the first week of May, could not be held because of this. The college management is not forthcoming even after the university authorities suggested holding talks to solve the crisis,” Sadath Dinakar, State general secretary, Ayurveda Medical Association of India, claimed.
Exams hit
Rhea Joy, vice chairperson of the students’ union, said that the conduct of even regular exams had been affected now. She also alleged that some teachers at the college were unqualified.
S. Sujatha, administrative officer at the college, however, told The Hindu that the striking teachers had already resigned, and that their notice period would end on May 16. “There was no point in resigned teachers holding a strike seeking reinstatement,” she said. Ms. Sujatha pointed out that the cancelled exams would be rescheduled in consultation with KUHS. “Talks are on with the Labour Department to address the charges against the management. There is one scheduled for Friday,” she added.
