JU teachers protest 'non implementation' of new UGC pay scale

Over 200 teachers Jadavpur University took out a rally on Thursday in the varsity premises to press for implementation of the revised UGC pay scale.

The teachers, affiliated to the Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA), first took part in a sit-in for around two hours in front of the main administrative building, and then marched around the campus with placards.

Besides JUTA, members of the All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA-JU) and representatives of the West Bengal College and University Teachers' Association (WBCUTA) also participated in the demonstrations.

A JUTA spokesman claimed that the West Bengal government is dilly-dallying over the implementation of the revised UGC pay scale, at a time when most of the other states have done it.

The rally and sit-in affected classes during afternoon hours, a university source said.

JUTA member Partha Pratim Roy said the agitating teachers also demanded immediate election of reprensentatives to statutory bodies in the university, including students' council.

Roy said JUTA members will launch a bigger movement if their demands were not looked into.

"We will first cease to do all non-teaching work, then boycott classes and in the final stage, may even resort to indefinite fast," another JUTA member said.

JU Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das could not be contacted for comments.